01 July 2025
By Maynard Paton
Happy Tuesday! I hope the first six months of 2025 have been positive for your shares.
A summary of my portfolio’s first half and Q2 trading:
- H1 return: -11.1%*
- Q2 trades: 2 Top-ups (Bioventix at £24.08 and S & U at £14.64).
(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees, paid dividends and cash interest)
What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago I was trumpeting “my best-ever H1 [+20%] since I commenced this blog at the beginning of 2015“.
Today I am staring at my weakest relative six-month performance since I commenced this blog at the beginning of 2015! Year to date my portfolio is down 11.1% while the FTSE 100 has powered 9.5% higher. I will now have to re-read whether I am a good investor :-(
This year’s underperformance follows the rollercoaster share price at System1, in which I have an oversized position because of its multi-bagger potential. That potential took a knock during April following an ominous Q4 update that implied a slowing of key revenue streams and talked of a “downside risk” to client budgets.
Let’s just say System1‘s FY results and Q1 update next week are likely to prove pivotal to my portfolio’s 2025 performance.
Newsflow from my other holdings has been mixed, with a 10% dividend lift from M Winkworth somewhat counterbalancing flat payouts at Andrews Sykes and Mountview Estates. And despite a dividend cut at S & U, the specialist moneylender has been my best performer this year!
Possibly the most intriguing announcement during the last three months was the sudden and unexplained departure of the chief executive of City of London Investment.
Abrupt exits do not occur if all is going well and I am braced for unfavourable short-term news. But I welcome the board’s decision to seek fresh leadership to help find new clients, as this fund manager’s investing style is commendable and its cash/bond returns have been impressive.