Post by Fletchsmile on Jul 5, 2017 13:07:33 GMT 7
When I look at investment returns so far it looks quite a pleasant picture - touch mango. Maybe I'm got a bit more cautious or more accepting of moderate returns and thankful things haven't crashed yet 
GBP/THB was pretty flat at 30 June compared to 31 Dec which also makes measuring things a little easier. SGD has also been pretty stable vs THB too. So at 2017 half-way:
Overall up around 8%, excluding dividend income, which would probably add a couple of % points
The Good
Asia and Europe are doing well, and the two best performing regions for me, which I thought was on the cards as the US looks relatively overvalued and time for Europe and US to catch up. Relative to the US they still look good value for the second half too
Europe (all excluding divs):
HEFT-Henderson European Focus +24%
JETI-JP Morgan European Income Trust +19%
Jupiter European(I) +17%
Asia (all excluding divs)
Aberdeen (Thailand) Asia Pacific RMF +14.3%
First State Dividend Advantage (SGD) +11.8%
Singapore REITs (excluding divs)
Very pleasantly surprised. I'd increased my weightings end of last year and continued to do so this year.
Most are up in double digits %. Plus the portfolio has a dividend yield of just under 7%
The 7% SGD tax free income + some potential for capital gains (or loss) is the aim, so to have double digit capital gains on top in 6 months is doing very nicely. It's getting much harder to find value though until the Singapore economy and other areas pick up, but the corners look well turned
Frontier and Emerging markets (excluding divs)
BRFI-Blackrock Frontier Investment Trust +14%
UEM-Utilico Emerging Markets +14%
are the best performers for me in this sector. UEM I've been happy with since adding to my investment trusts
UK
smaller companies seem to have done best
Marlborough UK Micro-cap Growth Class P (A) +18%
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies (A) +15%
Schroder UK Smaller Cos Class Z (I) +14.5%
I also have a couple of small holdings in junior oil and gas stocks. Serica (SQZ) +93%, Victoria Oil and Gas (VOG) +38%. These don't really fit any more with what I want in my portfolio as they're too speculative. So at some point they'll go, although for now, I think there could more to come, which is why I'm still holding. Junior O&G and miners are the type of thing that you can't afford to speculate too much money on, so even if they do go well, the effect overall isn't life changing, so I decided not worth the hassle and am getting rid of them all over time
The Bad
Nothing really ugly Most things have been up.
2 notable exceptions:
Russia:
JRS - JPMorgan Russia -16%
Always going to be a rocky ride, and 2016 was a great year up 75% so can't grumble too much. Took some profits in 2016 too, as I bought it originally a couple of years back when Russia look oversold and beat up.
Resources
KTAM (Thailand) World Energy -15%. That -15% wasn't helped either by THB strengthening by around 5% vs USD
Not a big fan of the fund really. I bought a few years back for some resources exposure for my daughters bought via Thailand and choices were limited. Like most resource funds it had been recovering after a dire couple of years in 2014 and 2015
So all in all a nice first half. Hopefully more of the same in H2
GBP/THB was pretty flat at 30 June compared to 31 Dec which also makes measuring things a little easier. SGD has also been pretty stable vs THB too. So at 2017 half-way:
Overall up around 8%, excluding dividend income, which would probably add a couple of % points
The Good
Asia and Europe are doing well, and the two best performing regions for me, which I thought was on the cards as the US looks relatively overvalued and time for Europe and US to catch up. Relative to the US they still look good value for the second half too
Europe (all excluding divs):
HEFT-Henderson European Focus +24%
JETI-JP Morgan European Income Trust +19%
Jupiter European(I) +17%
Asia (all excluding divs)
Aberdeen (Thailand) Asia Pacific RMF +14.3%
First State Dividend Advantage (SGD) +11.8%
Singapore REITs (excluding divs)
Very pleasantly surprised. I'd increased my weightings end of last year and continued to do so this year.
Most are up in double digits %. Plus the portfolio has a dividend yield of just under 7%
The 7% SGD tax free income + some potential for capital gains (or loss) is the aim, so to have double digit capital gains on top in 6 months is doing very nicely. It's getting much harder to find value though until the Singapore economy and other areas pick up, but the corners look well turned
Frontier and Emerging markets (excluding divs)
BRFI-Blackrock Frontier Investment Trust +14%
UEM-Utilico Emerging Markets +14%
are the best performers for me in this sector. UEM I've been happy with since adding to my investment trusts
UK
smaller companies seem to have done best
Marlborough UK Micro-cap Growth Class P (A) +18%
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies (A) +15%
Schroder UK Smaller Cos Class Z (I) +14.5%
I also have a couple of small holdings in junior oil and gas stocks. Serica (SQZ) +93%, Victoria Oil and Gas (VOG) +38%. These don't really fit any more with what I want in my portfolio as they're too speculative. So at some point they'll go, although for now, I think there could more to come, which is why I'm still holding. Junior O&G and miners are the type of thing that you can't afford to speculate too much money on, so even if they do go well, the effect overall isn't life changing, so I decided not worth the hassle and am getting rid of them all over time
The Bad
Nothing really ugly
Most things have been up.2 notable exceptions:
Russia:
JRS - JPMorgan Russia -16%
Always going to be a rocky ride, and 2016 was a great year up 75% so can't grumble too much. Took some profits in 2016 too, as I bought it originally a couple of years back when Russia look oversold and beat up.
Resources
KTAM (Thailand) World Energy -15%. That -15% wasn't helped either by THB strengthening by around 5% vs USD
Not a big fan of the fund really. I bought a few years back for some resources exposure for my daughters bought via Thailand and choices were limited. Like most resource funds it had been recovering after a dire couple of years in 2014 and 2015
So all in all a nice first half. Hopefully more of the same in H2
