Dear Friends, Clients, Business Partners:

Both Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Puasa are important days in our cultures where we reflect on what we have done, and recalibrate our direction ahead. I would like to take this opportunity to briefly reflect on the key developments my team and I experienced over the past year, and to share my plans and perspectives for the year ahead. As we reflect on 2025, I am filled with gratitude for your continued trust and partnership. This past year has been one of significant growth and meaningful developments, and I'm excited to share these updates with you.

🐇 2025: A Year of Phenomenal Team Growth and Personal Development

The Year of the Rabbit that has just passed was, for me, the most rewarding year in my ten years in this profession.

From a business development perspective, I successfully obtained the Singapore Tourism Board Tourist Guide Licence. This milestone has given our team a significant advantage as we expand into the Mainland China market for fund investment activities. Our financial advisory team no longer needs to rely on intermediaries for referrals; instead, we are now able to receive visiting groups under the pretext of “Financial/Investment Study Tours”, allowing them to visit Singapore directly to explore opportunities and collaborations. Such study tours present considerable business potential, and I welcome interested parties or potential partners to reach out.

I was also invited to participate in more community-related initiatives, enabling our team to gain a more grounded understanding of the real needs of local middle-income families—particularly in areas such as housing, healthcare, and retirement planning. This ensures that the advice we provide remains practical and relevant, rather than purely theoretical. You might have seen them on my LinkedIn—it’s always better when we prosper with our fellow countrymen, together.

Vanguard, which our boutique financial advisory team is called and I co-lead, underwent a significant repositioning and restructuring exercise last May. Our internal collaboration framework and business standards have since become clearer and more aligned, laying a solid foundation for future scalability and sustainable growth. For clients, this translates into a further upgrade in service quality and capability.

As many of you know, since 2020 I have continuously worked on refining my investment analysis framework. For most fund investors—particularly those involved in higher-risk assets—such analytical systems are essential, yet remain scarce within the industry. I am pleased to share that, with the efforts of several generations of interns, we expect to see this framework transition within the next year from its original Google Sheets structure to a more systematic, secure, and fully digital online platform. The core objective of this upgrade remains unchanged: to ensure that, across varying market conditions, we are consistently able to provide our clients with clear, trackable, and executable long-term investment strategies.

Our internship programme has also received increasing recognition from local tertiary institutions. We remain the only programme in the industry that is formally accredited by local universities. In addition to our traditional summer internships, we piloted internship intakes during the academic term and winter (year-end) break last year, both of which received strong interest from students and educators alike. These interns made meaningful contributions to our team and directly enhanced our service quality. If you know any enrolled students who may be interested in our internship programme, I would greatly appreciate your referrals. I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude to all the interns who joined us last year for their commendable service.

On the personal financial advisory front, I achieved MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) qualification for the sixth consecutive year. As a result, many of you will once again find my dining vouchers in your mailbox. For those who mentioned not having received them in recent years, may I gently remind you to check your spam or junk mail folders as well.

With Mr Donald Trump “stirring things” in 2025, market volatility understandably increased—yet this turbulence also created new investment opportunities. In response to evolving market conditions, Great Eastern launched index-linked universal life policies and single-premium investment solutions over the past year to align with these trends. Throughout this period, my clients and I remained focused on asset allocation, risk diversification, and disciplined pacing, rather than reacting emotionally to short-term market movements.

Many of you may also be aware that the government introduced new regulations affecting Integrated Shield Plans last November. I have summarised the potential impact of these changes in a short video, which you are welcome to watch over the festive period should you find some time:
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The Year of the Rabbit also marked an important personal milestone for me—I married Pearl this January. After seven years together, it felt like the right time for my life to settle into a new phase. We are also considering moving out of our current residence later this year in preparation for our new BTO flat. We will hence be travelling to Kyushu, Japan, for a three-week honeymoon in late April. I would like to seek your kind understanding should there be any inconvenience during this period. I will definitely remain contactable, albeit with slight network delays.

🐎 2026: A Year of Greater Resolve and Action

If the 2025 was about consolidating my strengths, then I believe 2026 will be defined by deploying these strengths with precision.

From a market perspective, regional and global volatility is expected to persist. In my view, however, this presents an opportunity for more precise and intentional deployment of monies, rather than hesitation or avoidance. In line with this, Great Eastern has launched Singapore’s first physical gold investment fund, offering clients a more diversified and resilient asset allocation option. This fund allows investors to gain exposure to physical gold bars stored in local vaults, providing an alternative for those seeking portfolio diversification, long-term wealth preservation, and inflation protection.

In terms of client engagement, we will be introducing more meaningful client/partner engagement programmes, including retirement planning seminars, pickleball sessions, estate planning discussions, and even urban heritage tours. My hope is that our relationships will not be confined to numbers and reports alone, but will instead extend into a deeper understanding of one another’s life journeys.

On 15 March (Sun) at 10am, I will be hosting an Orchard Road heritage walk exclusively for our valued clients, followed by lunch at Shake Shack. Registration details can be found here: https://peatix.com/event/4826388

From a team management standpoint, our financial advisory team will continue to expand. With an energetic team aged between 22 and 35, we are actively inviting driven and committed individuals to join our growing family. It is also time for me to bring on a full-time personal assistant, allowing me to focus more on long-term planning for my clients, my team, and of course my new family. If you have suitable candidates to recommend (self-recommendations are welcome), I would be delighted to connect.

In closing, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for your continued trust and support. In the year ahead, I look forward to propelling further alongside you—staying clear-headed amidst uncertainty, and staying focused despite change. Flux will be the new constant. Whether you are a long-standing client, a business partner, or someone whose path has crossed mine at a particular stage of life, it is a privilege to play a role worthy of your trust.

Wishing you steady progress and confident strides in the Year of the Horse.
And to our Muslim friends, dengan ingatan tulus ikhlas, maaf zahir dan batin.

With best wishes for health and harmony,
Yang Sheng (Syamsul)