How do you choose between Singapore bank stocks for a long-term FI portfolio?

Hi all, I’m looking to add a Singapore bank stock as part of my long-term portfolio, mainly for dividend income and some capital appreciation. I’m currently looking at UOB and OCBC. I’m not really considering DBS for now because the share price has already run up quite a bit and I’m not as comfortable with the current entry price. For those building towards FI, how do you normally decide between the local banks? Do you mainly compare things like dividend yield, payout sustainability, valuation, growth potential, or just diversify across all three? Would also be interested to hear how much of your FI portfolio you allocate to Singapore bank stocks in general.

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u/naked_sponge 1 12 hours ago

If you’re a long term investor, it doesn’t really matter which price you enter. What matters is whether you enter or not. I thought Dbs was pricey at $25 many years ago but look where it is today. That said, there’s still risks to holding individual stocks. The key to manage risk is position sizing (I.e never more than x% of your portfolio in a stock).
u/Ceyenne18 1 11 hours ago

OCBC since you don't want DBS. I wouldn't touch UOB with a 10 foot pole. DBS is my single largest holding. Probably around 15% of my port.
u/normificator 1 11 hours ago

Curious why the aversion to U11?
u/Iforgotmynametoobro 1 11 hours ago

Basically operates like an SME
u/Ceyenne18 1 11 hours ago

On the surface - UOB total income, OP and most importantly, fee income all fell while DBS and OCBC increased. I.e. it is failing in its transition to wealth management and being left behind. Deeper - DBS and OCBC are run by professionals, chosen for their expertise and measured + compensated for performance. UOB has chosen to remain a family managed business. When a large part of family wealth is tied to a business, the inclination is towards preservation rather than creating value for other shareholders.
u/Fantastic-River-5071 1 10 hours ago

Not only that UOB upper management is quite corrupt and need to give money or use their “friends” to do biz w them and also all the intern at Uob are nepo while the others also have nepo, it is considerably less.
u/[deleted] 1 11 hours ago

[removed] — already gone when the archive first saw it
u/MasterWatercress9420 1 11 hours ago

same thoughts. DBS>OCBC>>>UOB. If u buy UOB, u might as well buy STI itself
u/DuePomegranate 1 11 hours ago

If you don't have high conviction, don't pick stocks! G3B dividend yield is still like \~3% p.a. There are other actively managed funds/portfolios as well.
u/N00bOptionTrader 1 10 hours ago

A lot of noobs liked to pick stock (including myself). Then realized that index is probably the safer way.
u/Skieboard 1 11 hours ago

Ocbc has gone up more than DBS friend
u/Wild-Criticism-2868 1 11 hours ago

For Singapore , holding the index ETF is more riskying than holding bank stocks lol if understand the joke
u/coolhead8112 1 11 hours ago

For my allocation of Singapore bank stocks as a segment in my portfolio, uob takes up 20%, ocbc takes up 35% and DBS takes up 55%.
u/IplayMobileLegends 1 10 hours ago

Buy all 3
u/cassowary-18 1 10 hours ago

Don't think, just buy GAB. (or G3B / ES3 if you want dividends)
u/N00bOptionTrader 1 10 hours ago

Higher share price does not mean it is overvalued, neither does lower share price means undervalued. I would strongly encourage you to download the financial reports of the 3 banks and have a look at the underlying businesses. Personally, I only buy DBS and OCBC.
u/Symp07 1 9 hours ago

I wouldn't touch UOB. DBS has higher dividend yield than OCBC but the latter has a higher growth rate. Usually people pick 1 out of the 3 banks, I don't want to choose so I went with DBS and OCBC.