The much hoped-for Santa Rally did indeed materialise, to round off a decent final quarter of a decent 2019. This is especially welcome following a difficult 2018 for equities. I’m fairly happy with my portfolio’s performance of 33.5%, though this has been achieved in the context of strong performances from the market as a whole. The FTSE 100 was up 12.1%, the FTSE 250 up 24%, the S&P 500 up 32% and the Stoxx Europe 600 is up 23%.

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My portfolio has given up a bit of ground over the last quarter, which has felt like a bit of an uphill battle. The stock market still seems to be in limbo, though the narrative of impending recession has been strengthening. Continue reading →

It was inevitable that equity markets would lose some steam after the spectacular bounce in the first quarter. The second quarter has been more volatile as the conflicting narratives of impending recession and indefinitely continuing low interest rates play out, though overall the markets have continued to make progress. After a fantastic April, my portfolio has been slowly and steadily inching forward over the last couple of months. Continue reading →

The last three months have seen a fairly spectacular bounce in many stock markets across the world. After the US markets had their worst year since 2008, they’ve now had the best first quarter since 1998. The S&P 500 is up almost 15% so far this year. The UK markets are not doing quite so well but have still seen a pretty decent bounce. My portfolio has had a fairly satisfying bounce along with everything else, benefiting significantly from its exposure to US Tech but being held back a bit by ‘air pockets’ in some of its smaller AIM investments. Continue reading →

2018 was a tough year for many investors, including me. I’m disappointed that my portfolio is down 4% for the year. While this is somewhat better than the wider stock market, it is a weaker performance relative to my benchmarks than I have achieved for the past few years. This leaves me looking for lessons to learn from and questioning whether there is anything about my strategy I should adjust.
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I’m writing this portfolio review off the back of a pretty horrendous week for my portfolio. The markets have been weak all round and I’m sure many investors will have suffered losses, but with my focus on high quality growth stocks I’ve been hit particularly hard. It’s the worse week I’ve had in quite a few years. At times like these I think it’s important to accept your losses rather than regret them and to look forward to the opportunities and risks ahead. This review gives me the opportunity to take a step back from the carnage and focus on ensuring my portfolio and strategy are well-equipped for what might be coming next.     Continue reading →

My portfolio has finally resumed its advance over the last quarter, though the performance has not quite been spectacular. I’ve slowed down my portfolio turnover over the last quarter and am hoping that this small shift in strategy is going to suit the current market volatility a bit better.  Continue reading →

It’s time for another quarterly review. The last few months since the last review have followed on in a similar vein  i.e. volatile and only marginally ahead of the FTSE. I would expect my strategy to perform less well in more volatile periods, so being marginally ahead of the FTSE is a small comfort. Though as always the point of the review is be critical and look for ways to improve. Continue reading →

I’ve now been tracking the performance of my portfolio for three years. Lately, I’ve been doing a bit too much agonising over recent mistakes and worrying about possible impending market doom and whether my strategy will weather different conditions. So to lift my spirits and put things into perspective, I’m going to pour myself a whisky and compare my performance so far against some of the professional fund managers I follow for investment ideas.

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It’s time for another quarterly portfolio review. Overall, the performance of the portfolio has slowed considerably over the past three months and has become a little more volatile. I’m hoping this drop in performance is temporary, but there’s been a strong run since last summer and it might be unrealistic to expect that sort of performance to continue. I’m hoping extending my coverage to US and European stocks may provide some additional firepower.
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