August 2015: Portfolio Update

Another fall in the month and year, dragging both my portfolio and the FTSE100 into negative territory for the year. My portfolio the better of the two following strong dividends from National Grid.

Merchant Adventurer's Index
			Forecast	1 month	YTD	56 mth
	Price	% holding	Div. yield	% gain	% gain	% gain
R-R	743.50p	19.96%	3.20%	-6.36%	-14.54%	13.26%
Aviva	483.80p	12.99%	4.36%	-6.96%	-0.14%	33.72%
National Grid	860.10p	14.02%	5.21%	0.82%	-6.32%	55.53%
BP	360.50p	8.32%	7.25%	-8.84%	-12.29%	-14.81%
Apple **	$112.76	8.51%	1.51%	-5.50%	3.72%	101.76%
IG Group	722.58p	4.82%	4.33%	-3.46%	0.50%	51.42%
Imperial Tobacco	3159.00p	3.29%	4.45%	-6.12%	11.39%	39.84%
William Hill	360.00p	3.04%	3.52%	-11.09%	-0.69%	95.47%
BAT	3479.00p	2.45%	4.49%	-8.47%	-0.60%	3.72%
Vodafone	226.70p	2.30%	5.20%	-6.26%	1.82%	-10.15%
Microsoft **	$43.93	2.18%	2.32%	-4.37%	-3.98%	59.86%
Banco Santander	406.13p	1.76%	3.34%	-7.96%	-25.41%	-25.58%
General Electric **	$24.82	1.95%	3.16%	-3.32%	-0.28%	65.31%
BAE Systems	452.20p	1.67%	4.63%	-5.93%	-4.19%	37.03%
Barrat Dev.	639.50p	2.11%	3.61%	0.71%	78.90%	78.90%
SSE	1471.00p	1.50%	6.23%	-2.90%	-9.31%	20.08%
Verizon **	2997.24p	1.45%	4.11%	-0.03%	-0.14%	7.99%
Centrica	243.20p	1.13%	5.16%	-8.74%	-12.83%	-26.66%
BG Group	994.60p	2.57%	2.25%	-8.96%	14.98%	-19.07%
Cash		3.98%	0.00%
		100.00%	3.95%
				1 month	YTD	56 mth
Virtual Portfolio gain (incl. Divs)
- 1 month gain   2137.23	2037.77			-4.65%
- YTD gain         1644.62	2037.77				-2.51%
- 56 month gain 1264.20	2037.77					61.19%
- 68 month gain 1000.00	2037.77					103.78%
Unit Price - £	2.03777	(Starting price - £1)
FTSE gain (excl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   6696.3	6247.90			-6.70%
- YTD gain         5897.81	6247.90				-4.85%
- 56 month gain 5971.01	6247.90					4.64%
- 68 month gain 5412.88	6247.90					15.43%

Transactions:
05/08/2015 Div Verizon @ 29.95p per share 05/08/2015 Div Vodafone @ 7.62p per share 05/08/2015 Div Banco Santander @ 2.8p per share 05/08/2015 Div National Grid @ 28.16p per share 17/08/2015 Div Apple @ 28.09p per share

July 2015: Portfolio Update

A flat performance in the month with a barely positive 0.08% gain, and trailing the FTSE100's 2.69% gain for a second month.
Still marginally ahead of the FTSE100 on the year to date though with 2.25% v. 1.98%

Merchant Adventurer's Index
			Forecast	1 month	YTD	55 mth
	Price	% holding	Div. yield	% gain	% gain	% gain
R-R	794.00p	20.32%	2.99%	-8.74%	-8.74%	20.95%
Aviva	520.00p	13.31%	4.06%	5.58%	7.33%	43.73%
National Grid	853.10p	13.26%	5.25%	4.39%	-7.08%	54.27%
BP	395.45p	8.70%	6.61%	-5.88%	-3.78%	-6.55%
Apple **	$121.30	8.58%	1.40%	-2.54%	9.75%	113.49%
IG Group	748.50p	4.76%	4.18%	0.27%	4.10%	56.85%
Imperial Tobacco	3365.00p	3.34%	4.17%	9.72%	18.65%	48.96%
William Hill	404.90p	3.26%	3.13%	0.45%	11.70%	119.84%
BAT	3801.00p	2.55%	4.11%	11.30%	8.60%	13.32%
Vodafone	241.85p	2.34%	4.87%	4.65%	8.62%	-4.14%
Microsoft **	$46.70	2.18%	2.18%	6.60%	0.41%	67.16%
Banco Santander	441.25p	1.82%	2.96%	-1.18%	-18.96%	-19.14%
General Electric **	$26.10	1.92%	3.01%	5.46%	3.15%	71.00%
BAE Systems	480.70p	1.70%	4.36%	6.54%	1.84%	45.67%
Barrat Dev.	635.00p	2.00%	3.63%	3.34%	77.64%	77.64%
SSE	1515.00p	1.48%	6.05%	-1.37%	-6.60%	23.67%
Verizon **	2998.23p	1.39%	4.04%	1.17%	-0.11%	8.03%
Centrica	266.50p	1.18%	4.71%	1.02%	-4.48%	-19.63%
BG Group	1092.50p	2.69%	2.05%	3.11%	26.30%	-11.11%
Cash		3.23%	0.00%
		100.00%	3.76%
				1 month	YTD	55 mth
Virtual Portfolio gain (incl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   2135.51	2137.23			0.08%
- YTD gain         1644.62	2137.23				2.25%
- 55 month gain 1264.20	2137.23					69.06%
- 67 month gain 1000.00	2137.23					113.72%
Unit Price - £	2.13723	(Starting price - £1)
FTSE gain (excl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   6521.00	6696.30			2.69%
- YTD gain        5897.81	6696.30				1.98%
- 55 month gain 5971.01	6696.30					12.15%
- 67 month gain 5412.88	6696.30					23.71%

Transactions:

03/07/2015	Div	Rolls-Royce @ 12.87p per share
03/07/2015	Rights	Rolls-Royce @ 0.1p per share
29/07/2015	Div	General Electric @ 12.46p per share