It’s the end of the tax year, so I thought I would do a little portfolio review. It’s generally more convenient for me to do my accounting based on the tax year, as opposed to calendar years.
My personally-selected portfolio returned around 28% for the year, which compares favourably with the FTSE ALL SHARE INDEX (FTSE:ASX) of 9%. That sounds great, but when you consider that the FTSE 250 MID INDEX (FTSE:MCX) returned around 22%, and I am heavily invested in mid- small- caps, there is nothing to be impressed about. The portfolio is net of all transaction costs, but ignores dividends, special dividends, and any CGT liability. Some of that portfolio will be protected within ISAs. My dividend receipts were way down on last year, due to the high churn in my portfolio. I should learn to leave alone!
My OEICs did OK, gaining about 16%,which will include a distribution element. Again, that’s ahead of the ASX, but behind the MCX. I have held my OEICs for YEARS, some of them stretching back over at least 15 years. It is certainly not always the case that my personally-selected portfolio beats my OEICs. My favourite holdings are AXA Framlington UK Select Opps, and FSS (Fidelity Special Situations). FSS has come under a lot of fire on account of the stewardship of Sanjeev Shah. I have seen some YouTube videos with Sanjeev in them, and it appears to me that he knows what he’s doing. Personally, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and say that his style of investing just didn’t work in the environment of the time. Alex Wright now heads FSS, and he has shown an impressive performance with other funds.
I am actually thinking of selling down some of my OEICs, maybe getting rid of a few stragglers, either due to their relatively small size, or their persistent underperformance. This has been prompted by the new fee structures for discount brokers that has come into effect. I need to be careful, though, and try to balance my expectations for the kinds of returns I am likely to generate. I find that I tend to do very well after the market has had a period in the doldrums. The market has been going gangbusters…
