Investment Review - March 2022

I didn't get around to posting the end-of-year results at the time, but on 31-Dec-21 the combined portfolio stood at an all-time high and the 2021 full-year return was +8.2%.    

On the face of it, not a bad result for the year but with UK RPI inflation this month also running at 8.2%, then it seems as if that'll be the minimum level of annual growth required for the next few years just to keep pace ... 

On the plus side, I didn't suffer at all from the panic seen over the last six months by holders of the likes of Fundsmith and SMT etc, because I've never been over-exposed to the Nasdaq and its so-called 'tech' stocks. 

Here's the combined portfolio position on 31-Mar-22 :-

Over the past six weeks or so, I've made major changes to the portfolio, selling out of my European ITs and ETFs at the recent highs.  I also banked profits from some UK funds and ETFs, again at or around post-Covid highs.  

There's been far too much recent buying and selling activity to describe in detail, but I've rotated a lot of cash towards the east (China, India, Japan and other Asian economies), and also picked up more ETFs and ITs focused on corporate bonds and emerging market debt.   

These debt funds serve as placeholders for some of the cash in the investment accounts.  Hopefully, monthly dividend payments will help to preserve or increase their value until I can identify better equity fund opportunities for the cash in the future.

I've also taken my first ever positions in precious metals via gold and silver ETCs, which I intend to top-up on the last day of each month for the foreseeable future. 

I'm still watching the European markets, which don't seem to know which way to go from here, but if there's a major sell-off with bargains to be had then I'll likely pick up VERX again.

 

At the end of Mar-22, the porfolio value is off -1.2% year-to-date.