This is my seventy-second monthly portfolio update. I complete this regular update to check progress against my goal.
Portfolio goal
My objective is to maintain a portfolio of at least $2,620,000 through 2022. This should be capable of producing an annual income from total portfolio returns of about $91,600 (in 2022 dollars).
A secondary focus through 2022 will be achieving the minimum equity target of $2,100,000.
Portfolio summary
Vanguard Lifestrategy High Growth Fund
$734,665
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund
$39,052
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund
$70,528
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund
$87,212
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)
$373,659
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)
$440,759
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)
$282,996
Telstra shares (TLS)
$2,121
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG)
$6,056
NIB Holdings shares (NHF)
$8,760
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX)
$118,146
Secured physical gold
$18,782
Bitcoin
$279,557
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)
$20,104
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)
$3,231
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)
$4,642
Total portfolio value
$2,490,270 (+$10,340)
Asset allocation
Australian shares
39.4%
Global shares
31.6%
Emerging market shares
1.6%
International small companies
2.0%
Total international shares
35.2%
Total shares
74.7%(-5.3%)
Total property securities
0.2%(+0.2%)
Australian bonds
2.6%
International bonds
5.8%
Total bonds
8.4%(+3.4%)
Gold
5.5%
Bitcoin
11.2%
Gold and alternatives
16.7%(+1.7%)
Presented visually, the chart below is a high-level view of the current asset allocation of the portfolio.
Comments
This month has seen a small overall gain in the portfolio, of around $10,000. As a result, the portfolio grew by around 0.4 per cent, and ends the month quite close to the position it started.
A year ago, the portfolio briefly reached around $3.04 million, on the back of sharp gains in the value of Bitcoin. Today, a different story is in evidence, with Bitcoin holdings being a weak performer over the month, following the FTX collapse and bankruptcy.
As a result, the portfolio continues to track at a lower level than achieved in early 2021, and is still below the overall revised portfolio goal of $2.62 million.
The most visible movement this month was the fall – by around 22 per cent – in the price of Bitcoin, following relevations of the insolvency and use of customer funds of FTX and associated Alameda Research.
This brought further focus on other potential vulnerabilities in exchanges. This fall came after a period of relatively low volatility in the price of Bitcoin, and this lower volatility regime seemed to reinsert itself again following the falls, with trading ranges that are quite narrow in historical terms.
By contrast, most other elements of the portfolio showed growth.
Australian equities advanced around 6.4 per cent. Gold holdings increased by 2.1 per cent, and bonds reversed some previous losses, ending up around 1.8 per cent. International equities, however, slightly declined (by 0.2 per cent).
This is my seventy-first monthly portfolio update. I complete this regular update to check progress against my goal.
Portfolio goal
My objective is to maintain a portfolio of at least $2,620,000 through 2022. This should be capable of producing an annual income from total portfolio returns of about $91,600 (in 2022 dollars).
A secondary focus through 2022 will be achieving the minimum equity target of $2,100,000.
Portfolio summary
Vanguard Lifestrategy High Growth Fund
$711,405
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund
$37,922
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund
$68,711
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund
$85,661
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)
$351,153
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)
$426,221
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)
$265,971
Telstra shares (TLS)
$2,089
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG)
$6,208
NIB Holdings shares (NHF)
$8,004
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX)
$115,668
Secured physical gold
$18,351
Bitcoin
$356,030
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)
$18,735
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)
$3,162
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)
$4,639
Total portfolio value
$2,479,930 (+$138,908)
Asset allocation
Australian shares
37.6%
Global shares
30.7%
Emerging market shares
1.6%
International small companies
2.0%
Total international shares
34.2%
Total shares
71.8%(-8.2%)
Total property securities
0.2%(+0.2%)
Australian bonds
2.5%
International bonds
5.7%
Total bonds
8.2%(+3.2%)
Gold
5.4%
Bitcoin
14.4%
Gold and alternatives
19.8%(+4.8%)
Presented visually, the chart below is a high-level view of the current asset allocation of the portfolio.
Comments
This month reversed two months of falling portfolio values, with a sharp increase of around $139,000. The portfolio grew nearly 6 per cent in this expansion, its highest rate of growth in more than six months.
Despite this positive movement, the portfolio still is at a lower absolute level than achieved in early 2021, and is more than $540,000 lower than at the same point a year ago.
Consequently, the portfolio continues to track below the overall revised portfolio goal of $2.62 million.
The major sources of portfolio growth are clear – a recovery in equity markets both globally, and domestically. Australian shares increased in value around 4.3 per cent over the past month. Globally, the largely unhedged equities portfolio grew in value by around 7.2 per cent.
Bonds were volatile in their movements this month, but overall were flat in total performance by month end.
During the past month, Bitcoin has been peculiarly stable, aside from a small increase over the last week or so. Through the last two months, the price of Bitcoin actually registered the remarkable achievement of being less volatile than the benchmark US S&P500 index.
Over the month, Bitcoin holdings increased around 6.8 per cent in value, while the value of gold held remained essentially flat.
All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again.
J.M.Barrie, Peter Pan
This is my seventieth monthly portfolio update. I complete this regular update to check progress against my goal.
Portfolio goal
My objective is to maintain a portfolio of at least $2,620,000 through 2022. This should be capable of producing an annual income from total portfolio returns of about $91,600 (in 2022 dollars).
A secondary focus through 2022 will be achieving the minimum equity target of $2,100,000.
Portfolio summary
Vanguard Lifestrategy High Growth Fund
$678,031
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund
$36,524
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund
$66,842
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund
$85,539
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)
$336,849
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)
$372,579
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)
$254,676
Telstra shares (TLS)
$2,052
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG)
$5,828
NIB Holdings shares (NHF)
$8,922
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX)
$115,862
Secured physical gold
$18,365
Bitcoin
$333,214
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)
$18,111
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)
$2,993
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)
$4,635
Total portfolio value
$2,341,022 (-$63,972)
Asset allocation
Australian shares
38.2%
Global shares
29.6%
Emerging market shares
1.6%
International small companies
2.0%
Total international shares
33.2%
Total shares
71.3%(-8.7%)
Total property securities
0.2%(+0.2%)
Australian bonds
2.6%
International bonds
5.9%
Total bonds
8.5%(+3.5%)
Gold
5.7%
Bitcoin
14.2%
Gold and alternatives
20.0%(+5.0%)
Presented visually, the chart below is a high-level view of the current asset allocation of the portfolio.
Comments
Losses in the portfolio worsened this month, with a futher fall of around $64,000 in the value of the portfolio. This resulted in a contraction of 2.3 per cent in the size of the overall portfolio.
This means that the portfolio now sits just above a level orginally reached in the early months of 2021. In other words, a period of more than 20 months has passed, with no sustained increase in portfolio value.
The portfolio continues to sits well under the overall revised portfolio goal of $2.62 million.
The largest losses this month occurred in the Australian shares segment of the portfolio, with falls of around 6.3 per cent in the value of holdings. By contrast international shares fell by slightly less, only losing 3.9 per cent.
Bonds also continued to fall in value, as yields sharply increased through the month. The value of bonds declined 3.4 per cent, and total holdings fell to under $200,000 for the first time since the second half of 2015.
In a break from past months, Bitcoin has defied recent correlations with equities markets and slightly gained in value across the month, rising by 1.9 per cent. Similarly, gold as a defensive asset has moved from recent losses to increase by more than 2.5 per cent on a monthly basis.
This is my sixty-ninth monthly portfolio update. I complete this regular update to check progress against my goal.
Portfolio goal
My objective is to maintain a portfolio of at least $2,620,000 through 2022. This should be capable of producing an annual income from total portfolio returns of about $91,600 (in 2022 dollars).
A secondary focus through 2022 will be achieving the minimum equity target of $2,100,000.
Portfolio summary
Vanguard Lifestrategy High Growth Fund
$714,600
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund
$38,340
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund
$69,879
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund
$88,511
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)
$359,644
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)
$359,544
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)
$271,514
Telstra shares (TLS)
$2,116
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG)
$5,891
NIB Holdings shares (NHF)
$9,816
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX)
$112,897
Secured physical gold
$17,951
Bitcoin
$327,060
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)
$19,478
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)
$3,121
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)
$4,632
Total portfolio value
$2,404,994 (-$36,598)
Asset allocation
Australian shares
39.5%
Global shares
28.9%
Emerging market shares
1.6%
International small companies
2.1%
Total international shares
32.6%
Total shares
72.1%(-7.9%)
Total property securities
0.2%(+0.2%)
Australian bonds
2.6%
International bonds
6.0%
Total bonds
8.6%(+3.6%)
Gold
5.4%
Bitcoin
13.6%
Gold and alternatives
19.0%(+4.0%)
Presented visually, the chart below is a high-level view of the current asset allocation of the portfolio.
Comments
This month overall losses of around $36,000 were sustained in the value of the portfolio, reducing the portfolio by around 1.5 per cent in total.
With this outcome, over a third of the increases of July were essentially lost. Over the past 12 months, the majority of months have now registered as delivering portfolio losses.
The portfolio now sits below the overall revised portfolio goal of $2.62 million at the end of the month, as it has since the end of May.
Losses occurred broadly across much of the portfolio through the month.
Bitcoin holdings were reduced in value by around 14 per cent, as the prospect of higher interest rates were absorbed by financial markets. These losses were principally responsible for the total fall in portfolio value.
The value of international equities also fell from some initial gains within the month, to end lower, by around 0.8 per cent. Australian shares managed to end the month around 1.0 per cent higher. Bonds also fell in value sharply, by 2.4 per cent and gold holdings fell by 0.7 per cent also.
