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My Portfolio Performance Update

2019-05-16T00:41:34+00:00

Claude Walker's Portfolio Performance Update

I've recently been thinking a bit about whether my skills are most useful as a research analyst and investor, or if they are most useful as an analyst and writer. Although they are obviously related, it's possible that some analysts could be better off focusing purely on investing, while others are most valuable as communicators.

While I think I get the most gratification out of communicating about ethical investing to my readers, I don't want to be limited to that sort of role. Ultimately, I get the most satisfaction out of successfully investing; but it remains to be seen whether professional investing is the optimal setting for me to succeed as an investor.

Without further ado, a review of my returns to date. (Note that I'm a Sharesight beta tester so the graphs are not as granular as they are for most people - the beta version calculates faster but the proper version looks better). The returns calculation methodology is annualised and money weighted. Find the details here.

Ethical Equities Portfolio: 1 Year Return to May 15 2019

Ethical Equities Portfolio: 2 Year Return to May 15 2019

Ethical Equities Portfolio: 5 Year Return to May 15 2019

Top 5 Winners Over 2 Years

The most profitable 5 stocks over the last 2 years on an absolute basis have been: PME, KME, NEA, AD8 and ANO.

Worst 5 Losers Over 2 Years

The biggest losses over the last 2 years were suffered as a result of investing in: RBL, IAB, HCT, MUA, and XPL (formally MGP).

A Lesson For Me

Looking at the last 2 years of winners and losers, it's pretty clear to me that I did a lot more work on the winners before accumulating a full sized position. So taking my time was not costly. While I did study Mitula closely, I simply got it wrong. But except for Mitula I built full sized positions in the other losers far too quickly, before I had really followed the stocks closely for long. These losses would have been lesser if I had built my position over the course of 6 months, rather than a few weeks. This observation reinforces my resolve to only build full positions over time as I do more research and if I have followed a company closely for at least 6 months, but preferably more.

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Dear reader,

Ethical Equities is currently unsustainable, costing thousands per year in regulatory fees.

If you'd like to see us survive, and you don't yet have a Sharesight account, please consider signing up for a free trial on this link, and we will get a small contribution if you do decide to use the service (which in turn should save you money with your accountant, or time if you do your own tax.) And on top of that you can get 2 months free added to an annual subscription.

Thank you for your support!

This article does not take into account your individual circumstances and contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 501223). Authorised by Claude Walker.

5 Year Performance Review

2018-09-25T23:53:43+00:00

5 Years Of Ethical Investing For Fun And Profit

Part of my process is to periodically take a look at my overall performance once a year (or two). The purpose is to hold myself accountable, and the other part is to force myself to try to think about lessons I’m learning, along the way. I use Sharesight to keep track of performance (and do my tax). This is convenient because many of my readers also use this software, so you can follow along at home!

Without further ado, here’s my overall ASX portfolio performance.

The 37.63% figure is capital weighted annualised compound returns. Here is the Sharesight methodology.

The first thing to note is that recent performance has been strong, thanks in large part to the fact the the Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price has run so hard. This stock is my largest holding and you can see how, from mid 2016, I underperformed the market for a while. This was due largely to the fact that the Pro Medicus share price dropped after a strong run -- I anticipate near term underperformance for the same reason. As the CEO says, the share price has arguably gotten ahead of itself.

My worst listed investment was the wipe-out on New Solar Options (Class A) ASX:NEWOA, which scored me a handy -93.75%.

The second worst was -83.5% Jayex Healthcare (ASX:JHL), chaired by Michael Boyd. I will never invest in a company he is associated with, ever again.

Skip a few to the most embarrassing result of all time; my decision to sell Touchcorp (ASX:TCH), now Afterpay Touch (ASX:APT). This is by far the worst (investing) mistake I’ve ever made, for two reasons.

First, I sold the company for a loss of about 40%, and then it went on to merge with Afterpay, and multibag.

Second, worse, I also told other people to sell the stock, thus taking them with me on my worst mistake. It makes my heart a bit heavy to think about it, but I’m heartened by the kind words I have received over the years, resultant from wiser decisions.

To delve in to the error here, my problem was that I neither appreciated the potential (or likelihood of success) for Afterpay, nor did I trust the Touchcorp board to realise the value of the Afterpay shares they owned. Ultimately, like so many decisions as an investor, we make judgements about what people are going to do. I underestimated those people, which was a real mistake. There was enough alignment with the board that one could reasonably conclude that the incentives were there for the company to do the right thing. Although the results had been disappointing (and short of expectations set by the company) the stock was undervalued -- and I essentially made it more so by telling people to sell. The silver lining was that a fund we invest in bought shares in it, and has outperformed strongly.

Here’s a list of my top 15 losers (by absolute loss, not percentage) over the last 5 years, so you can marvel at my foolishness.

On to brighter subjects, here’s my top 15 winners over the last 5 years, also by absolute value. I think it’s more interesting to look at absolute gain or loss, because it takes into account position sizing.

Evidently, it's been a rewarding journey overall, but I've endured long periods of underperformance, and I've made many mistakes. The number one cause of bad decisions, for me, is making a decision too impulsively. As a general rule, it is much better if I am in a calm mindset before making a decision. Having said that there secondary cause of bad decisions is lack of animation -- not acting when I should. For example, I could have bought back in to Touchcorp when I realised I was wrong to Sell, rather than anchor to my incorrect decision until I was comprehensively proved wrong. Equally I could have sold Catapult (ASX:CAT) at higher prices when the founders were selling.

I would love to hear what you think of my mistakes and victories, as well as any of your own lessons from the last 5 years. So please sign up to the forums and let me know what you think!

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Dear reader,

Ethical Equities is currently unsustainable, costing thousands per year in regulatory fees.

Thank you for your support!

Disclosure: Claude Walker owns shares in PME, GTK, VHT, BAL, MNF, KME, NEA, NEWOA and MUA. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 501223). Authorised by Claude Walker.

Ethical Equities Performance Financial Year 2015

2015-06-30T09:36:33+00:00

Well, in the spirit of accountability, here is my private portfolio performance for financial year 2015.

Performance has suffered due to a failure to not selling overvalued equities when the market offered a good price, but -- more significantly -- by the poor performance of a handful of investments, which, in retrospect, I paid too high a price for.

The poor performance of Azure Healthcare (ASX:AZV), Academies Australasia (ASX:AKG) and one other company which I sold recently were a major drag on returns.

Luckily, my highest conviction investments performed well, and this led to decent results despite my manifest and numerous errors.

Overall, I go into FY 2016 feeling pretty pessimistic about my portfolio, since only some holdings are solidly in "clear value" territory. I have probably let a few holdings get too expensive to justify holding on, as a result of selling too early on many occasions in the past. I'm developing a "hold on" bias, and it's faced its first test in the last few weeks.

However, on a brighter note, I think my portfolio is still of good quality, with heavy weightings towards companies that have resilient revenues and reasonable growth prospects. I've got some cash to spend should I so desire, but as is my fashion, I'm not sitting on significant chunks of dry powder.

Notably the graph below doesn't include some puts I own, which are in the money, but would nonetheless drag down returns if included.

Nothing on this website is advice, ever. The author owns shares in Azure Healthcare and Academies Australasia. This post is for entertainment (and for my own reference!)

Please do follow me on twitter @claudedwalker.

The Free Newsletter is not regularly published at present, but you can still subscribe now.

The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio Final Update - 10/10/2014

2014-10-12T03:31:19+00:00

The outlook is good for the Hypothetical Ethical Investor - but before we talk about our hypothetical friend, we should probably do the housekeeping.

His portfolio lost Fiducian Portfolio Services (ASX:FPS) at price of $1.88, a fact I noted here, prior to my last real-life sale.

As I write the ASX All Ordinaries (INDEXASX:XAO) sits at 5,185, below where it was for all but the first hypothetical pick. Indeed, had the hypothetical ethical investments tracked the market, we would have a return of -2.58%. Instead, the average return is 33.81%, demonstrating outperformance of 36.38% over the share market at large. While the portfolio remains a work in progress, you will never get to see its progress, because this is the last ever hypothetical ethical share portfolio update.

The picture is sweeter when we include dividends, with an average total return of 37.12%, a figure that would balloon further were it to be annualised (the average holding period is less than a year).

Now, on to the more important question: why must we bid adieu to the Hypothetical Ethical Investor himself?

A hypothetical explanation:

In August 2014, the hypothetical ethical investor found himself feeding a stonefish to a reef shark 20m under the water surface. The locals living on the island - La Providencia - were determined to keep the invasive species under control, as the fast-breeding stonefish are threatening the biodiversity of the reef. Wouldn't it be nice if all these colourful and fantastic species were alive for my (hypothetical) great grandchildren to see, he thought.

As the small shark ripped the fish from the spear, it occurred to the hypothetical ethical investor to short sell Whitehaven Coal shares, which had recently drifted to the ridiculous price of over $1.90 each.

When the shares plunged another 8% to $1.50 on Friday, he closed out 80% of a Livermore-sized position and started making retirement plans.

He has recently departed Sydney to the North of New South Wales where he will take residence in a tree house. From this leafy abode he will start his days with an organic soy latte, and start on exquisitely chosen chilled Chardonnay at around 4.30pm most afternoons. The hypothetical ethical investor is in good health (it's the yoga), and takes heart from the fact that people like you actually give a damn. He knows he's lucky, and he wishes you the best of luck for the rest of your lives.

While the above 4 paragraphs are fictional, it is true that there will be no further updates to the Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio. It's over.

The Lorax remains unimpressed with greed.

Nothing on this website is advice, ever. The author holds positions in Cryosite Limited ASX:CTE, Vocus Communications Limited, ASX:VOC, 1300 Smiles Limited, ASX:ONT, My Net Fone Limited, ASX:MNF, Bentham IMF Limited, ASX:IMF and Kip McGrath Education Centres Limited, ASX:KME.

Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio 12/9/2014

2014-09-14T02:47:15+00:00

It wasn't until I went to do another update on the Hypothetical Ethical Portfolio that I noticed that the last update significantly understated my hypothetical returns.

Whatever: the point is that as of the 12th of September 2014 the hypothetical picks are up an average of 43.88% when including dividends, and are outperforming the market by an average of 37.14%, based on an average time period of less than a year. The ASX All Ordinaries are at 5,532.310, for the record.

Anyway, it's important to note that the returns are majorly skewed by My Net Fone - which has returned over 125%.

So what's my secret?

Luck, of course. Take out My Net Fone and Fiducian Portfolio Services, and my outperformance wouldn't look so good. With the removal of Energy Action, which I also sold in real life, the portfolio only has 7 holdings, well below that of a decently diverse portfolio.

A friend recently asked me "How do you choose what goes into the hypothetical ethical portfolio?"

That's a good question, and even an avid reader of the full history of the hypothetical ethical portfolio, would struggle to spot a pattern because...

The hypothetical ethical share portfolio has no proper strategy.

The first 3 picks were simply the 3 most recent posts I'd done at that time, that I actually owned shares in myself, but since then I chose companies that I would buy myself, and that I think have better long-term prospects than the market is giving them credit for. The main criteria is that I actually get my act together and write it up before the price gets away from me. Personally I severely regret not adding Servcorp and Capilano Honey to the portfolio, since I was planning to but just never really got around to it before the share prices increased significantly. Generally, I only add high-conviction picks to the hypothetical portfolio, although it is also supposed to be a learning process for me.

The point of the portfolio is simply to prove that a moderately intelligent person can easily beat the market while avoiding investments that harm society or the environment. You can do that more ways than one, and I'm sure many of you are.

Please note that Energy Action has been sold from the Hypothetical Ethical Porftolio - an intention I signalled prior to open of trading on the day the report was released. I've frozen the "Most recent price" at $2.93, which is below the price it traded on open, which was $3. I've done this because of Dean's somewhat reasonable critique of my original plan to add Vocus at $3.50 on a day that the share price spiked to $3.77. I ended up adding it at $3.77, as you can see below. It would have been easy for someone to sell Energy Action shares at $2.93 if they read the report when it was released.

Nothing on this website is advice, ever. I hold positions in Cryosite Limited ASX:CTE, Fiducian Portfolio Services Limited, ASX:FPS, Vocus Communications Limited, ASX:VOC, 1300 Smiles Limited, ASX:ONT, My Net Fone Limited, ASX:MNF, Bentham IMF Limited, ASX:IMF and Kip McGrath Education Centres Limited, ASX:KME.

Newsletter subscribers get (monthly-ish) emails when I write my best content, that’s just the way it is.

The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio
Follow @claudedwalker

Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio 30/7/2014

2014-07-31T00:54:33+00:00

*Edit: The graphic below is wrong (luckily the real returns are higher). I had left out a cell. Please see comments.

As you can see, I added Kip McGrath to the Portfolio at 19c and called it in real time with a "hypothetical order" in the comments. This data correct at market close on 30/7/2014. I note strong performances from MNF, VOC, IMF and KME have all made the scorecard look a lot better since last update. Swings and roundabouts...

I own shares in all these companies.

Nothing on this website is advice, ever. I hold positions in all of the companies mentioned above, namely, Cryosite Limited ASX:CTE, Energy Action, ASX:EAX, Fiducian Portfolio Services Limited, ASX:FPS, Vocus Communications Limited, ASX:VOC, 1300 Smiles Limited, ASX:ONT, My Net Fone Limited, ASX:MNF, Bentham IMF Limited, ASX:IMF and Kip McGrath Education Centres Limited, ASX:KME.

Newsletter subscribers get (monthly-ish) emails when I write my best content, that's just the way it is.

The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio

Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio Update, 10 June 2014

2014-06-10T05:31:22+00:00

I'm pleased to present to you the first ever report on the portfolio's progress that incorporates dividends. There have been no changes to the portfolio since I last wrote in March. Also, prices are true at 3pm 10 June. I simply wanted to get it done (I've been putting it off for ages). With luck, they won't change too much in the next hour of trading.

Pleasingly, my picks are up - on average - over 26%. That figure is even more pleasing because the oldest pick, Energy Action, is less than a year old (in real life, I sold some of my holding). The average return relative to the market is 21.7% which is also quite good. Indeed, only one pick is in negative territory, 1300 Smiles, which I did make the mistake of choosing when it was too expensive (in real life, I topped up when it dipped on results). However, as this portfolio is meant to be less active than my own, I'm happy to choose long term prospects (as long as they are already profitable). In real life I sold some Vocus Communications shares at above current prices, but I have not sold any Bentham IMF shares.

Click on the picture below to enlarge :)

The star performer is My Net Fone, the second best is Fiducian Portfolio Services. In real life, I have sold some of my holding in both of those companies, evidently to my detriment.

Nothing on this website is advice, ever. I hold positions in all of the companies mentioned above, namely, Cryosite Limited ASX:CTE, Fiducian Portfolio Services Limited, ASX:FPS, Vocus Communications Limited, ASX:VOC, 1300 Smiles Limited, ASX:ONT, My Net Fone Limited, ASX:MNF, Bentham IMF Limited, ASX:IMF.

The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio

Hypothetical Ethical Portfolio Update 21 March 2014

2014-03-21T02:24:32+00:00

At the time of writing (just before 1pm) on Friday March 21st, the All Ordinaries are at 4338.

There are two new additions to the Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio: Vocus Communications and Cryosite. Vocus is added at $3.77 and Cryosite at $0.385. From now on, I will signify that I am buying a share in the hypothetical portfolio by commenting on an article, prior to the purchase. The hypothetical purchase will only count if shares are subsequently traded at that price: see the comments on the Cryosite article for an example.

Purpose of Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio

This is a thought experiment, nothing more and nothing less. If the Hypothetical Share Portfolio does better than either of the real portfolios that I manage, I'll be quite upset with myself. The thought experiment has the hypothesis that a small independent ethical investor can beat the market. Not exactly ambitious, I know.

I screwed up

I "bought" and "sold" Affinity Education in both my own portfolio and the Hypothetical Portfolio. Although I made a small gain, I haven't recorded it in the table below, because I haven't figured out how to represent a share sale. I will do this for a subsequent update, as well as find a way of incorporating dividends.

How to keep score with dividends

The problem with simply subtracting dividends from the buy price is that it reduces the initial price, thus boosting percentage returns more than real returns. It also makes the results for a high dividend paying company look artificially good... over the long term, one would expect a company like Integrated Research to return its entire purchase price in dividends (assuming that you had the wisdom to buy the company at below 50c). However, if you keep subtracting dividends from the buy price, over the long term you will have a buy price of $0.00 or less, thus boosting percentage based returns to infinity, a very impressive return indeed.

Get to the point, Claude

I did this update at 1pm-ish, so that was a bit silly, but I wanted to just get it done. It's worth noting that I don't claim this to be proof of my investing ability, and there is no possible way anyone would be able to follow me on this (nor are they meant to). I've still got my investing P plates on, that's for sure. However, the kindly advice of more experienced investors is allowing me to get better by learning (in theory, anyway).

Company	Code	Date Added	Buy Price	Most Recent Price	Percent Change	ASX All Ords Change	Relative Return
Energy Action	EAX	19/07/13	$2.88	$3.28	13.89%	7.63%	6.25%
My Net Fone	MNF	17/10/13	$1.40	$2.10	50.00%	1.06%	48.94%
1300 Smiles	ONT	24/10/13	$6.50	$6.00	-7.69%	-0.66%	-7.03%
Fiducian Portfolio Services	FPS	7/11/13	$1.18	$1.55	31.36%	-1.43%	32.79%
IMF Australia	IMF	25/11/13	$1.70	$1.78	4.71%	-0.15%	4.86%
Vocus Communications	VOC	27/02/14	$3.77	$4.67	23.87%	-1.53%	25.40%
Cryosite	CTE	10/03/14	$0.385	$0.45	16.88%	-1.71%	18.59%
				Average Return excluding dividends	19.00%	Average Relative Return excluding dividends	18.54%

Nothing on this website is advice, ever. I hold positions in all of the companies mentioned above except Affinity Education.

The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio

Vocus Communications Added to Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio (ASX: VOC)

2014-02-26T23:20:57+00:00

Vocus Communications Limited (ASX: VOC) has pulled the annoying stunt of releasing its results 15 minutes before the market opened. I've had a quick look at the report, and decided to add the company to the Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio at the last traded price of $3.52 (at the time of writing). [Edit: buy price will be $3.70 or closing price today... see comments below]. [2nd Edit: whoops I added it at $3.77 instead]

I regret not adding Vocus to the Hypothetical Portfolio at $3.10, where it traded just weeks ago. This is especially true because I bought shares in my own portfolio at those prices. That's life I guess.

I don't have time to write up the report (indeed, I've only scanned the numbers myself). However, the thesis expressed in this stock research on Vocus Communications holds. In fact, due to the growth in fibre revenues, I'd say that the moat is widening.

Here are my notes on the half yearly. The numbers are approximate, and the comparisons are with the immediately prior period (2H 2013). I don't believe the company is notably cyclical, so I don't care for prior corresponding period comparisons.

Vocus 1H 2014

Fibre and Ethernet Revenue growth of over 40% from $9.5 million to $13.2 million - slightly exceeds expectation

Data Centre from $8 million to $9.2 million growth of about 15% - meets expectations

Voice from $4.5 million to $3.8 million: contraction of 15% - under performs expectations

Internet from $14.5 million to $17.8 million growth of 22% - really exceeds expectations

Other observations: Capital Expenditure higher than expected. Depreciation and Administration were significant($9 million together) - capable of explaining the deficit between profit and cashflow. Cashflow up strongly for the half, to $13 million.

While depreciation and amortisation is real, I believe that much of the network equipment will outlast its depreciation period of 5 -30 years. Also, the Voice segment is the least important segment, so if any area can under-perform without breaking the thesis, then that's it.

The Author owns shares in Vocus Communications. Nothing on this website is advice, ever. The purpose of this blog is to keep track of my decisions and invite feedback

Follow @claudedwalker

Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio Monday 17th of February

2014-02-17T09:28:11+00:00

At the close of the market on Monday 17th of February, the ASX All Ordinaries closed at 5,394.8. The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio has slipped against the benchmark since the last update, as the market has risen strongly. Bentham IMF remains the problem child, as shares have been sold off because the company has lost some cases recently. This is part and parcel of the business, and does not represent any degradation of the company. It's also worth noting that so far the portfolio has spun off only 5 cents in dividends, but many of the companies will pay dividends soon, so I will probably have a dividends column in the next update.

Company	Code	Date Added	Buy Price	Most Recent Close	Percent Change	ASX All Ords (XAO) Change	Relative Return	XAO at time of purchase
Energy Action	EAX	19/07/13	$2.88	$3.35	16.32%	8.78%	7.54%	4959.39
My Net Fone	MNF	17/10/13	$1.40	$2.05	46.43%	2.14%	44.29%	5281.88
1300 Smiles	ONT	24/10/13	$6.50	$6.85	5.38%	0.39%	4.99%	5373.67
Fiducian Portfolio Services	FPS	7/11/13	$1.18	$1.60	35.59%	-0.38%	35.97%	5415.43
Bentham IMF	IMF	25/11/13	$1.70	$1.65	-2.94%	0.91%	-3.85%	5346.1
				Average Return excluding Dividends	20.16%	Average outperformance excluding dividends	17.79%

Nothing on this website is advice, ever. I hold positions in all of the companies mentioned above.

The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio

Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio February 2014

2014-02-09T04:36:42+00:00

The ASX All Ordinaries closed at 5,184.506 on Friday the 7th of February, 2014. Bentham IMF Limited has at times traded at a bit less than the purchase price, possibly because the company semi-lost its case against ANZ Banking Group. However, this is simply the business they're in, and it would be foolish to overreact to individual case results.

Dividends Received	Company	Code	Date Added	Buy Price	Most Recent Close	Percent Change	ASX All Ords (XAO) Change	Relative Return	XAO at time of purchase
$0.05	Energy Action	EAX	19/07/13	$2.88	$3.40	18.06%	4.54%	13.52%	4959.39
0	My Net Fone	MNF	17/10/13	$1.40	$1.78	27.14%	-1.84%	28.99%	5281.88
0	1300 Smiles	ONT	24/10/13	$6.50	$6.75	3.85%	-3.52%	7.37%	5373.67
0	Fiducian Portfolio Services	FPS	7/11/13	$1.18	$1.62	37.29%	-4.26%	41.55%	5415.43
0	IMF Australia	IMF	25/11/13	$1.70	$1.71	0.29%	-3.02%	3.32%	5346.1
					Average Return excluding Dividends	17.33%	Average outperformance excluding dividends	18.95%

Nothing on this website is advice, ever. I hold positions in all of the companies mentioned above.
The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio

Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio 27 November 2013

2013-11-27T06:21:13+00:00

Here is the updated hypothetical ethical share portfolio. I'm trying to make my reporting of this hypothetical ethical share portfolio as transparent as possible: suggestions are welcome. I'm thinking of adjusting the buy price to reflect dividends received.

So far so good I guess. I'm a bit sad I didn't add Vocus to the portfolio before the price spiked. On the other hand, so far so good I guess. It's early days. Just a reminder: in my mind this is a diversified portfolio with ten equal positions, so I'm only half invested at this point. Also, this portfolio is not the same as my real life portfolio. Note the recent addition of IMF. The All Ordinaries were at 5324.9 at close today.

Dividends Received	Company	Code	Date Added	Buy Price	Most Recent Close	Percent Change	ASX All Ords (XAO) Change	Relative Return	XAO at time of purchase
$0.051	Energy Action	EAX	19/07/13	$2.88	$4.200	45.83%	7.37%	38.46%	4959.39
0	My Net Fone	MNF	17/10/13	$1.40	$1.520	8.57%	0.81%	7.76%	5281.88
0	1300 Smiles	ONT	24/10/13	$6.50	$6.590	1.38%	-0.91%	2.29%	5373.67
0	Fiducian Portfolio Services	FPS	7/11/13	$1.18	$1.345	13.98%	-1.67%	15.65%	5415.43
0	IMF Australia	IMF	25/11/13	$1.70	$1.725	1.47%	-0.40%	1.87%	5346.1

The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio

Nothing on this website is advice, ever. I hold positions in all of the companies mentioned above.

Sample Ethical Share Portfolio 10 November

2013-11-10T07:01:13+00:00

So here's the updated Ethical Share Portfolio.

The plan is to have 10 positions, each 10% of the initial capital. I anticipate that if the market continues to go up, one would aim not be more than 60% invested, (i.e. 6/10 positions allocated capital) but this is a debatable policy.

Company	Code	Date Added	Buy Price	Most Recent Close
Energy Action	EAX	19/07/13	$2.88	$3.98
My Net Fone	MNF	17/10/13	$1.40	$1.46
1300 Smiles	ONT	24/10/13	$6.50	$6.55
Fiducian Portfolio Services	FPS	7/11/13	$1.18	$1.20

The Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio

Nothing on this website is advice. I hold positions in all of the companies mentioned above.

Sample Ethical Share Portfolio

2013-10-24T08:17:41+00:00

This sample portfolio is meant to represent a hypothetical ethical portfolio, so it is diversified across a number of industries. The purpose of this portfolio is not to suggest it is the best portfolio. It certainly isn't my portfolio. This portfolio is an experiment.

I want to see how a purely ethical portfolio can go over the long term. As an additional challenge (for this experiment), I will only add a stock once I have covered it on this website. In order to get the ball rolling, I'm using the last three companies that:

a) I actually own shares in in real life, and;

b) I have covered recently on this website

However, in the future I will add only some of the companies I write about, without regard to whether I actually own shares of that company. I haven't yet decided which companies should be added to the experimental hypothetical portfolio. I will post whenever I add a new company.

For a starting buy price, I will use the offer price at the moment I published the most recent article regarding that company. The one exception to this is My Net Fone. When I wrote and posted the last traded price (on 18/09/2013) was $1.35. The Ethical Equities Newsletter delivered that day stated:

"This morning I published my recent research on My Net Fone (ASX: MNF), which has reported since I last wrote to you. When I wrote the article, the shares had been trading at under $1.40 for weeks. Frustratingly, the share price was up 5% that morning."

It wouldn’t have made any sense to buy the shares on the very day they were hyped up (it never does) and, as one might expect, the share price subsequently came down, trading at $1.36 quite recently. I have therefore chosen $1.40 as the buy price for My Net Fone, which I think is fair enough.

In the future, I will use the last traded price when I update the portfolio on this website.

Without Further Ado, here are the first three holdings of the Experimental Hypothetical Ethical Share Portfolio:

Company	Code	Date Added	Buy Price
Energy Action	EAX	19/07/2013	$2.88
My Net Fone	MNF	17/10/2013	$1.40
1300 Smiles	ONT	24/10/2013	$6.50

Disclosure: The Author owns shares in Energy Action, My Net Fone, and 1300 Smiles at the time of writing. Nothing On this website is advice. Ever.