February 2014: Portfolio Update

Okay, so its been sometime and I have a little catching up to do with changes, movements etc.

February was notable for the execution of the Vodafone rights issue with the new share distribution, Verizon shares, and special dividend to follow next month.

The regular Vodafone dividend was received along with dividends from Apple, IG and a nice first contribution from Imperial Tobacco.

Quite a significant pullback can be seen in my portfolio following the disappointment in Rolls-Royce seen in January's, and my portfolio has now shown a two months decline of 5.6% year to date v. the FTSE 100's steadier performance.

Representing 29.77% of my portfolio Rolls-Royce has contributed significantly over the last few years and I have actually taken the recent fall as an opportunity to add a few more shares to the mix.

Supermarkets also continue to underperform and I am now seriously considering the paradigm shift towards discounters and convenience stores that analysts are proclaiming.

My view has always been that this shift would reverse as the economy improves so it is a test of my nerves.

Merchant Adventurer's Index
			Forecast	1 month	YTD	38 mth
	Price	% holding	Div. yield	% gain	% gain	% gain
R-R	999.00p	29.77%	2.32%	-14.70%	-20.18%	52.18%
National Grid	834.50p	15.11%	5.09%	5.77%	5.90%	50.90%
Aviva	473.60p	11.44%	3.39%	6.43%	5.31%	40.17%
BP	504.40p	6.04%	4.79%	5.52%	3.35%	11.34%
Apple **	$526.19	5.77%	2.09%	3.20%	-7.53%	23.30%
Vodafone	252.30p	5.21%	4.34%	11.15%	6.46%	33.27%
IG Group	633.00p	4.68%	3.74%	1.12%	2.76%	32.65%
William Hill	397.60p	3.73%	3.19%	19.76%	-1.07%	115.88%
Imperial Tobacco	2437.00p	2.81%	5.22%	9.63%	4.23%	7.88%
BAT	3250.00p	2.54%	4.53%	11.45%	0.37%	-3.11%
General Electric **	$25.47	2.04%	2.58%	-0.49%	-10.40%	55.52%
Microsoft **	$38.31	1.94%	2.32%	-0.60%	0.93%	27.80%
BAE Systems	410.90p	1.69%	5.01%	-4.22%	-5.54%	24.52%
Centrica	319.00p	1.65%	5.54%	2.57%	-8.25%	-3.80%
SSE	1403.00p	1.59%	6.25%	7.35%	2.41%	14.53%
Morrisons	235.30p	1.22%	5.47%	-1.96%	-9.85%	-12.07%
BG Group	1088.50p	1.31%	1.70%	6.51%	-16.11%	-16.01%
Tesco	329.20p	1.08%	4.48%	2.87%	-1.54%	-17.48%
Cash		0.39%	0.00%
		100.00%	3.55%
				1 Month	YTD	38 mth
Virtual Portfolio gain (incl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   2040.58 -	2019.42			-1.04%
- YTD gain         1644.62 -	2019.42				-5.60%
- 38 month gain 1264.20 -	2019.42					59.74%
- 50 month gain 1000.00 -	2019.42					101.94%
FTSE gain (excl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   6510.44 -	6809.7			4.60%
- YTD gain         5897.81 -	6809.7				0.90%
- 38 month gain 5971.01 -	6809.7					14.05%
- 50 month gain 5412.88 -	6809.7					25.81%
Transactions:
06/02/2014	Div	Vodaphone @ 3.53p per share
17/02/2014	Div	Imp.Tobacco @ 81.2p per share
17/02/2014	Div	Apple @ 152.82p per share
19/02/2014	Buy	Rolls-Royce @ 1006.02p
24/02/2014	Sell	Vodafone @ 252.3p
24/02/2014	Buy	Vodafone @ 252.3p
24/02/2014	Buy	Verizon @ $46.23 / £27.61
25/02/2014	Div	IG Group @ 5.75p per share
Notes:
*     US Dividends are adjusted for exchange rate and 15% withholding tax
**   Sterling : Dollar exchange rate = £1: $1.67448 as at 28/02/14

Disappointing to see the chart given the pullback in my portfolio.

Click to enlarge, close to return

So a disappointing start to the year and quite a few concerns that I need to keep an eye on.