A 3.89% gain in the month was enough to push past the previous high seen on the 31 December 2013, helped by the dividends from National Grid, Rolls-Royce, and a lesser one from GE.
Some satisfying capital gains came from Imperial Tobacco, Apple, Aviva, and BAT, which were offset by a -10.01 fall in Microsoft (following disappointing financials), and Banco Santander (following a hatchet job and about turn on its dividend policy).
3.89% bettered the FTSE100's 2.79%, and since inception the reinvestment of dividends has helped my portfolio advance almost 5 times as much as the FTSE100.
| Merchant Adventurer's Index | |||||||||
| Forecast | 1 month | YTD | 49 mth | ||||||
| Price | % holding | Div. yield | % gain | % gain | % gain | ||||
| R-R | 891.00p | 22.95% | 2.72% | 2.41% | 2.41% | 35.72% | |||
| National Grid | 936.00p | 14.64% | 4.65% | 1.95% | 1.95% | 69.26% | |||
| Aviva | 528.00p | 13.60% | 3.73% | 8.98% | 8.98% | 45.94% | |||
| BP | 424.00p | 9.39% | 6.08% | 3.16% | 3.16% | 0.20% | |||
| Apple ** | $117.16 | 8.64% | 1.45% | 9.82% | 9.82% | 113.63% | |||
| Vodafone | 235.00p | 2.29% | 4.78% | 5.55% | 5.55% | -6.86% | |||
| Verizon ** | 3034.49p | 1.41% | 4.12% | 1.10% | 1.10% | 9.34% | |||
| IG Group | 726.00p | 4.64% | 3.99% | 0.97% | 0.97% | 52.14% | |||
| William Hill | 377.00p | 3.05% | 3.43% | 4.00% | 4.00% | 104.70% | |||
| Imperial Tobacco | 3124.00p | 3.12% | 4.51% | 10.16% | 10.16% | 38.29% | |||
| BAT | 3752.00p | 2.53% | 4.13% | 7.20% | 7.20% | 11.86% | |||
| General Electric ** | $23.89 | 1.83% | 3.12% | -2.18% | -2.18% | 62.15% | |||
| Microsoft ** | $40.40 | 1.96% | 2.52% | -10.01% | -10.01% | 49.81% | |||
| BAE Systems | 508.00p | 1.80% | 4.08% | 7.63% | 7.63% | 53.94% | |||
| Centrica | 294.00p | 1.31% | 4.81% | 5.38% | 5.38% | -11.34% | |||
| SSE | 1609.00p | 1.58% | 5.54% | -0.80% | -0.80% | 31.35% | |||
| BG Group | 887.00p | 0.92% | 2.31% | 2.54% | 2.54% | -31.56% | |||
| Barrat Dev. | 458.00p | 1.45% | 3.10% | -2.76% | -2.76% | 28.12% | |||
| Banco Santander | 450.00p | 1.87% | 3.09% | -17.36% | -17.36% | -17.54% | |||
| Cash | 0.99% | 0.00% | |||||||
| 100.00% | 3.66% | ||||||||
| 1 Month | YTD | 49 mth | |||||||
| Virtual Portfolio gain (incl. Dividends) | |||||||||
| - 1 month gain 2090.17- | 2161.51 | 3.89% | |||||||
| - YTD gain 2090.17- | 2161.51 | 3.89% | |||||||
| - 49 month gain 1264.20 - | 2161.51 | 71.77% | |||||||
| - 61 month gain 1000.00 - | 2161.51 | 117.15% | |||||||
| FTSE gain (excl. Dividends) | |||||||||
| - 1 month gain 6566.09 - | 6749.40 | 2.79% | |||||||
| - YTD gain 6566.09 - | 6749.40 | 2.79% | |||||||
| - 49 month gain 5971.01 - | 6749.40 | 13.04% | |||||||
| - 61 month gain 5412.88 - | 6749.40 | 24.69% | |||||||
| Transactions: | |||||||||
| 06/01/2015 | Div | Rolls-Royce @ 9p per share | |||||||
| 09/01/2015 | Div | National Grid @ 14.71p per share | |||||||
| 29/01/2015 | Div | GE @ 22c per share | |||||||
| Notes: | |||||||||
| * US Dividends are adjusted for exchange rate and 15% withholding tax | |||||||||
| ** Sterling : Dollar exchange rate = £1: $1.50635 as at 31/01/15 | |||||||||
| *** Banco Dividends are adjusted for exchange rate and 21% withholding tax | |||||||||
| **** Sterling : Euro exchange rate = £1: $1.33498 as at 31/01/15 | |||||||||
Chartwise, I have again extended the scale to show the new high.
 |
| Click to enlarge, close to return. |
The new high obviously gives me a little boost and encouragement after a disappointing 2014, and against a troubled global and political backdrop, is a nice way to start the year.
I think I do need to sit down and review the merits of each though.
A series of dividend cuts has been disappointing and, as with my exit from supermarkets last year, I still have a number of long term holdings that remain disappointing.
Strange that 2 of them, BG and Centrica, are both elements of the old British Gas, the last element being National Grid.
William Hill has also struggled to return to its ebullient highs, and then there is IG which I hope can maintain/consolidate its current highs.
Banco Santander is under review, after an about turn on its dividend policy, the very reason I had watched but eventually bought it for.
And finally, despite its contribution, I am still little uncomfortable holding tobacco stocks.
My final reasoning being that successive Governments have little will to back up the health message, given the tax cash cow that tobacco revenue contributes to its coffers.
However, I am still not comfortable with it.
Those concerns aside, it has been an encouraging start to the year, but with UK elections in 2015, the road could be a winding one, with the added concern over Europe in addition to the political footballs of energy, tobacco, and austerity.
NB. 04 March 15. Amended by the addition of previously omitted dividends from R-R and National Grid which has improved overall gains and amended the individual holdings as a proportion of the overall portfolio.
Previous Posts:
- December 2014: Portfolio Update.
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