May 2022 portfolio update

  Portfolio activity - May2022:

Buy	Add	Sell
None	Henderson Far East Income	None
None	Duke Royalty	None

Portfolio performance - May 2022:

Portfolio: -2.3% 

Benchmark: +1%

Chosen benchmark: Vanguard FTSE All Share Accumulation

Rolling 12 month portfolio dividend yield: 3.8%

Benchmark dividend yield: 2.99%

Portfolio valuation change since start - April 2022:

Portfolio: +37.2%

Benchmark: +16.8%

Portfolio

company	% of portfolio
unilever	6.2%
computacenter	5.5%
impact healthcare	5.5%
hend. far east income	4.4%
glaxosmithkline	4.2%
telecom plus	4.1%
duke royalty	3.7%
anglo pacific	3.4%
national grid	3.4%
jpm asia income & growth	3.2%
relx	3.1%
tritax big box	2.9%
compass	2.7%
schroders	2.7%
diageo	2.5%
british american tobacco	2.5%
somero enterprises	2.4%
qinetiq	2.3%
vwrl	2.3%
reckitt benckiser	2.3%
euromoney	2.3%
legal and general	2.1%
abcam	2.0%
tate & lyle	1.9%
nichols	1.9%
smith & nephew	1.8%
ag barr	1.7%
homeserve	1.6%
rws holdings	1.4%
hargreaves lansdown	1.2%
eleco	1.2%
888 holdings	1.1%
jersey electricity	1.0%
life sciences reit	1.0%
blackbird	0.9%
craneware	0.7%
lancashire holdings	0.6%
ab dynamics	0.5%

April 2022 portfolio update

 Portfolio activity - April 2022:

Buy	Add	Sell
None	JP Morgan Asia Growth & Income	None
None	Duke Royalty	None

Portfolio performance - April 2022:

The portfolio: +2.5% 

Benchmark: +0.3%

Chosen benchmark: Vanguard FTSE All Share Accumulation

Rolling 12 month portfolio dividend yield: 3%

Benchmark dividend yield: 3.02%

Portfolio valuation change since start - April 2022:

Portfolio: +40.5%

Benchmark: +16%

Portfolio

company	% of portfolio
unilever	6.1%
computacenter	5.8%
impact healthcare	5.7%
glaxosmithkline	4.4%
telecom plus	4.1%
anglo pacific	4.0%
tritax big box	3.5%
national grid	3.5%
hend. far east income	3.3%
relx	3.2%
jpm asia income & growth	3.2%
duke royalty	3.1%
diageo	2.7%
somero enterprises	2.6%
compass	2.6%
schroders	2.5%
tate & lyle	2.4%
british american tobacco	2.4%
reckitt benckiser	2.3%
qinetiq	2.2%
abcam	2.1%
euromoney	2.1%
legal and general	2.0%
nichols	1.9%
ag barr	1.8%
smith & nephew	1.8%
rws holdings	1.6%
homeserve	1.3%
hargreaves lansdown	1.3%
eleco	1.3%
jersey electricity	1.1%
life sciences reit	1.0%
888 holdings	1.0%
blackbird	0.8%
craneware	0.8%
lancashire holdings	0.7%
ab dynamics	0.6%

March 2022 portfolio update

Portfolio activity - March 2022:

Buy	Add	Sell
Legal & General	None	None
Life Sciences REIT

Portfolio performance - March 2022

The portfolio: +1.6% 

Benchmark: +1.4%

Chosen benchmark: Vanguard FTSE All Share Accumulation

Rolling 12 month portfolio dividend yield: 3.2%

Benchmark dividend yield: 3.06%

Portfolio valuation change since start - March 2022

Portfolio: +37%

Benchmark: +15.7%

Portfolio

company	% of portfolio
computacenter	6.7%
unilever	6.0%
impact healthcare	5.8%
glaxosmithkline	4.2%
anglo pacific	4.1%
telecom plus	3.9%
tritax big box	3.6%
national grid	3.5%
hend. far east income	3.4%
relx	3.3%
somero enterprises	3.1%
diageo	2.8%
compass	2.5%
jpm asia income & growth	2.4%
abcam	2.4%
british american tobacco	2.4%
tate & lyle	2.3%
reckitt benckiser	2.3%
legal and general	2.3%
euromoney	2.2%
schroders	2.1%
qinetiq	2.0%
duke royalty	2.0%
nichols	2.0%
ag barr	1.8%
smith & nephew	1.8%
hargreaves lansdown	1.5%
rws holdings	1.3%
eleco	1.3%
jersey electricity	1.2%
homeserve	1.2%
888 holdings	1.1%
life sciences reit	1.1%
blackbird	0.8%
craneware	0.8%
lancashire holdings	0.7%
ab dynamics	0.5%

February 2022 portfolio update

I didn't believe Putin would invade Ukraine. Utter madness. Can only hope for a swift end to the fighting and support where we can.

I bought a slice of Schroders during February, their C class or non-voting shares, as these were at a significantly lower price than the voting shares and therefore offered a higher dividend. Schroders is a large financial services business, but also 48% family owned. They have been shrewdly snaffling smaller finance businesses for a while, but it was their purchase of 75% of Greencoat that caught me attention. Not their first ESG investment by a long stretch but since I'd been following Greencoat for a while it prompted further investigation into Schroders.

Impact Healthcare was  also topped up again as I took advanced of a placing to raise funds.

Markets were understandably volatile and I was surprised not be be down more during the month. Defence stocks were up, as were those of a defensive nature. The portfolio has it's fair share of lower volatility holdings, so it's doing what it's supposed to.

Portfolio performance

The portfolio was down -1.4% in January, behind my chosen benchmark (Vanguard FTSE All Share Accumulation) which was flat  over the same period.

Rolling 12 month portfolio dividend yield: 3.2%

Benchmark dividend yield: 3.06%

Best performers this month:

QinetiQ +9%

Nichols +7%

National Grid +5%

Worst performers this month:
AB Dynamics -24%

Hargreaves Lansdown -15%

Lancashire Holdings -13%

January 2022 portfolio update

January saw the portfolio take a backward step or two. despite positive updates from most of the holdings. Unilever did an impressive acquisition hokey-cokey with their bid for the GSK consumer arm in and out again. It looked like the kind of large take-over that tends to cause a business indigestion, and the fact that they would need to considerably increase their debt to do so, left me thankful that they decided against. Other news included Somero, Eleco and Computacenter ahead of expectations, Anglo-Pacific reporting on a record quarter and all others reporting solid trading. But Mr Market was in a grumpy mood so the market sold off on concerns over inflation and central banks threatening to take away their punch bowl.

This month SAGE Group was sold - nothing wrong with the business, in fact I would rather have held onto it based on the business. However, the valuation was starting to feel expensive, and at a PE of 30, seemed to be pricing in an awful lot of growth. I would happily buy back at a lower valuation, but for the moment I've taken profit with a 38% gain.

Two top ups this month: Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) and Impact Healthcare REIT (IHR). HL had sold off a little, with the share price having been under pressure for a while. Recent trading had been respectable and they generate bags of cash so added a few more. IHR provide properties for care homes, so unlikely to set pulses racing, but a nice steady dividend payer, which in the current market environment I'm quite happy with.

Portfolio performance

The portfolio was down -4.6% in January, behind my chosen benchmark (Vanguard FTSE All Share Accumulation) which was down -0.3% over the same period.

Rolling 12 month portfolio dividend yield: 3.3%

Benchmark dividend yield: 3.05%

Best performers this month:

British American Tobacco +16%

Tate & Lyle +7%

Eleco +4%

Worst performers this month:
Blackbird -28%

Abcam -23%

Craneware -22%

December 2021 portfolio update

A month of progress from the portfolio despite relatively little news. Santa delivered double digit increases from 5 holdings, with no double digit fallers. The highlight being another upgrade to expected returns from Somero - it had been pretty well flagged that business was good but the market appreciated the update nonetheless. British American Tobacco released interims that indicated cost savings kicking in ahead of schedule and increased sales of their cigarette alternatives leading to bags of cash supporting debt repayments, a hefty dividend and potential for buybacks.

Two top ups this month: Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) and JP Morgan Asia Growth & Income (JAGI). Both had sold off a little so I decided to end the year shopping in the pre-xmas sales. With ERM having some of their revenues drawn from organising events, fears over another COVID wave/ lockdown would justifiably hit their performance, so if this was the reason for selling it would be understandable. There are any number of reasons for selling a holding such as JAGI given that 35% of it's portfolio is based in China, and another 16% in Taiwan .It's hardly a recipe for sleeping easily at night, but assuming Mr Xi and chums don't do anything too daft and provide a softish landing for the Evergrande fall-out, China, and therefore Asia, should do just fine.

Drawing the arbitrary line under the annual performance shows the portfolio up 13.8% versus a gain of 18.2% for my benchmark. I'll take that. However, my Vanguard global tracker is up 26% - so double the gain for bugger all effort. Still I've made a decent return, increased dividends, yield and all for much less volatility than the UK indices.

Portfolio performance

The portfolio was up 4.2% in December, equal to my chosen benchmark (Vanguard FTSE All Share Accumulation) which was also up 4.2% over the same period.

Rolling 12 month portfolio dividend yield: 3.3%

Benchmark dividend yield: 3.17%

Best performers this month:

Nichols +14%

Somero Enterprises +14

Compass Group +13%

Worst performers this month:
Eleco -9%

Craneware -5%

888 Holdings -3%

2021 performance:

Portfolio: +13.8%

Benchmark: +18.2%

November 2021 portfolio update

A sudden flirtation with hawkish comms from the Federal Reserve and omicron making itself known to the world caused markets to get a bit choppy in November. The portfolio decided to ignore this and chug a little higher over the past month. Is it too late for Santa to turn up before the correction?

Pretty decent updates being offered across the portfolio throughout the Month, with Craneware, Nichols and Telecom Plus all moving up by double digit %. 888 is down considerably from it's highs, with investors obviously nervous about it's William Hill acquisition which involves a placing yet to happen. However, they have a massive potential market to crack in the states and they seem to be performing well so I'm happy staying invested.

My only activity this month was to add a few more Unilever shares. It's not one to get the pulse racing, which is why I like it. They have just finished a chunky buyback programme and have cash following a sales of their tea business. I imagine we will all be happy to pay up a few pence extra for our Dove, Marmite or Magnums if inflation kicks in, and I'm happy taking the dividend if the share price goes sideways.

Portfolio performance

The portfolio was up 1.1% in November, ahead of my chosen benchmark (Vanguard FTSE All Share Accumulation) which was down -2.2% over the same period.

Rolling 12 month portfolio dividend yield: 3.4%

Benchmark dividend yield: 3.1%

Best performers this month:

Telecom Plus +15%

Craneware +12%

Nichols +11%

Worst performers this month:
888 Holdings -19%

Blackbird -15%

Hargreaves Lansdown -13%