My Portfolio

09 April 2023
By Maynard Paton

Happy Easter! I trust your shares have enjoyed a positive start to the year following the rough conditions of 2022. 

A summary of my portfolio’s first quarter:

• Q1 return: +1.9% gain* (FTSE 100: +3.6% gain).
• Q1 trades: None.
• Q1 winners/losers: 6 winners vs 4 losers (1 unchanged).

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees, paid dividends and cash interest)

I will gladly take a 1.9% gain for this Q1 after the 23% mauling I suffered last year. My portfolio now requires ‘only’ a further 28% advance to revisit its all-time high from December 2021. 

Company RNSs were generally very acceptable during the quarter. Dividends were held or raised and thankfully no profit warnings emerged. As always I am hopeful a mix of respectable competitive positions, capable managers and asset-rich balance sheets will steer my portfolio through whatever the markets may bring.

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01 January 2023
By Maynard Paton

Happy 2023! I hope you survived last year’s tough market and continue to find my blog useful.

A summary of my portfolio’s 2022:

• Total return of -23.3% (Q4: +0.2%)*;
• 2 holdings recorded a gain while 9 holdings recorded a loss;
• Returns ranged from up 23%, for Bioventix, to down 67%, for System1;
• One share was topped-up: City of London Investment, and;
• No new shares were purchased and no shares were sold.

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees, paid dividends and cash interest)

I publish a portfolio review after every quarter (Q1, Q2 and Q3), and this post recaps my October/November/December activity as well as my 2022 performance.

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02 October 2022
By Maynard Paton

Happy Sunday! I trust your shares continue to perform better than mine during 2022.

A summary of my portfolio’s progress:

• Q3 return: -9.2%*.
• Q3 trades: None.
• YTD return: -23.4%* (FTSE 100: -3.9%).
• YTD winners/losers: 2 winners vs 9 losers.

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, custody fees, paid dividends and cash interest)

I am heading for my worst annual performance for at least two decades after my portfolio fell 9.2% during Q3 to leave my shares down 23.4% for the year so far.

Yet despite another miserable quarter of negative returns, the Q3 newsflow did not seem particularly awful. 

Special dividends were in fact declared by Andrews Sykes and Tristel, which takes one-off payments for me this year to six and cements 2022 as my best-ever year for extra income. The quarter also witnessed higher payouts from M Winkworth and S & U.

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30 June 2022
By Maynard Paton

Happy Thursday! I trust your shares continue to perform better than mine during 2022.

A summary of my portfolio’s progress:

• Q2 return: -2.9%*.
• Q2 trades: None.
• YTD return: -15.7%* (FTSE 100: -1.0%)
• YTD winners/losers: 2 winners vs 9 losers.

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees and paid dividends)

My portfolio’s 2.9% Q2 drop leaves my shares 15.7% lower this year and nursing their worst half-year decline since I commenced this blog at the start of 2015. I think I have to go right back to the second half of 2011 to find a similarly underwhelming six-month performance.

At least Q2 did not reveal any major RNS disappointments. Andrews Sykes, Mountview Estates and M Winkworth in fact lifted their ordinary dividends while S & U and Tasty disclosed promising progress despite the uncertain economy.

But the market’s disillusionment towards smaller companies is leaving many of my shares marooned at best.

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01 April 2022
By Maynard Paton

Happy Friday! I trust your shares have performed better than mine so far this year.

A summary of my portfolio’s first quarter:

• Q1 return: -13.2% loss* (FTSE 100: +2.9% gain).
• Q1 trades: None.
• Q1 winners/losers: 0 winners vs 11 losers.

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees and paid dividends)

My portfolio’s 13.2% Q1 drop is sadly my worst three-month performance since I commenced this blog at the start of 2015. My largest three-month declines prior to this year were 11% during August, September and October 2018 and 8% during January, February and March 2020.

The primary cause of my Q1 reversal was a profit warning from (by far) my largest holding, System1. Not helping matters were underwhelming results from (what was) my second-largest holding, Tristel.

The rest of my portfolio seems to have suffered from the market’s general unease towards smaller companies.

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01 January 2022
By Maynard Paton

Happy 2022! I hope you profited from last year’s strong market and you continue to find my blog useful.

A summary of my portfolio’s 2021:

• Total return of +24.5% (Q4: +4.6%)*;
• 8 holdings recorded a gain while 3 holdings recorded a loss;
• Returns ranged from up 104%, for System1, to down 20%, for Bioventix;
• Two shares were topped-up: System1 and M Winkworth, and;
• No new shares were purchased and no shares were sold.

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees and paid dividends)

I publish a portfolio review after every quarter (Q1, Q2 and Q3), and this post recaps my October/November/December activity and my 2021 performance.

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30 September 2021
By Maynard Paton

Happy Thursday! I trust your shares are flourishing and that you still find my blog useful.

A summary of my portfolio’s third quarter:

• Q3 change: +5:1%*
• Q3 trades: none
• YTD change: 19.0%*
• YTD winners/losers: 9 winners vs 2 losers

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all account fees, dealing costs, withholding taxes and paid dividends)

I am pleased the portfolio gains recorded during the first half of the year were extended during Q3.

Newsflow from my shares has been generally encouraging, and I hope boardrooms will remain optimistic as the pandemic subsides.

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01 July 2021
By Maynard Paton

Happy Thursday! I trust your shares are thriving and that you still find my blog useful.

A summary of my portfolio’s progress:

• Q2 change: +7:4%*
• Q2 trades: System1 and M Winkworth
• YTD change: +13.2%*
• YTD winners/losers: 9 winners vs 2 losers

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees and paid dividends)

I am pleased the portfolio gains recorded during Q1 were extended during Q2. Recent RNSs from my portfolio have been mostly encouraging, and I anticipate boardrooms will remain optimistic as the pandemic subsides and social restrictions ease.

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01 April 2021
By Maynard Paton

Happy Thursday! I trust your shares have enjoyed a positive start to the year.

A summary of my portfolio’s first quarter:

• Q1 gain: +5.4%* (FTSE 100**: +5.0%).
• Q1 trades: None.
• Q1 winners/losers: 6 winners vs 3 losers (and 2 non-movers).

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01 January 2021
By Maynard Paton

Happy 2021! I hope you survived last year’s volatile market and you continue to find my blog useful.

A summary of my portfolio’s 2020:

• Total return of 16.9%*;
• Eleven holdings recorded a gain while one holding recorded a loss;
• Returns ranged from Daejan, up 43.5%, to System1, down 9.6%;
• Two shares were topped-up: S&U and System1, and;
• One share was sold entirely: Daejan.

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees and paid dividends)

I publish a portfolio review after every quarter (Q1, Q2 and Q3), and this post recaps my October/November/December activity and my 2020 performance.

Read more

01 October 2020
By Maynard Paton

I trust your shares have performed well during the last three months.

A quick summary of my portfolio’s third-quarter and year-to-date progress:

• Q3 gain: +4.4%*
• Q3 trades: None.
• YTD gain: +3.4%* (FTSE 100: -20.2%**)
• YTD winners/losers: 4 winners vs 8 losers 

(*Performance calculated using quoted bid prices and includes all dealing costs, withholding taxes, broker-account fees and paid dividends. **Includes reinvested dividends.)

The news from my shares during Q3 was generally satisfactory in the circumstances. 

Among my holdings releasing results during the quarter, two reported lockdown-lowered profits that were complemented with promising director recovery talk. One holding meanwhile lifted its dividend 11% and another announced a very unexpected special payout.

After making no trades during the second quarter, I did not buy or sell during this latest quarter either. Never before since starting this blog during 2015 have I refrained from adjusting my portfolio for six months.

How companies will fare as the pandemic continues is still impossible to predict. I remain 25% in cash and hope a few obvious bargains may one day appear. 

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