Monday 24 December 2012

Portfolio looking fair


It’s been a full month, but as 2012 comes to a close, a quick look through my portfolio seems to be in order.

Last accessed 23 Dec 2012, the portfolio’s return from Oct 2011 stands at 4.84%. Everything seems ok, with exception of BNPPL1 Opportunities USA USD, which has yet to recover from its performance in 2011 and 2010.


To illustrate how badly the fund has done, Citywire ranks François Mouté (manager for the fund) at bottom of North American ranking tables over 12 months, and 36 months

source: Citywire.com

Each time my eyes glance past those numbers, my mind starts coming up with questions like:

“Has he lost his mojo?”
“Is he more interested in retirement than returns?”
“Is Moute french for Miller?”

It’s a risk all active funds face. The chance that a star manager, for whatever reason – be it personal challenges (i.e. life happens), or professional challenges (i.e. the ceaseless grind of the performance derby on one’s soul) – decides it’s time to cash in the chips and live off bank interest. I claim no expertise in judging the psychology of fund managers. I’ll take a look at the numbers, and decide what to do from there.

New additions: I picked up Amundi Gbl Luxury & Lifestyle SGD, for lack of a better global equity fund. I would love to see something better catch my eye. Funds on the radar include Aberdeen Gbl Opportunities or DWS Invest Top Dividend. 

Meanwhile, I wrote previously about agonizing over the decision to switch out of Legg Mason WA SEA Special Situations. Happily, or from sheer luck, both funds performed pretty much identically since roughly end-Sep 2012:

Source: Fundsupermart.com



Both funds returned around 8% in 3 months, and short of any potential slowdown, I’ll stick with Legg Mason since historically it has done well in rising markets. 


A bet on HK via Aberdeen China has finally paid off, netting about 6% returns, and I might hold that for some time more.

The fixed income segment of the portfolio looks healthy, and thankfully so, since it’s propping up my portfolio against the returns from BNPPL1 Opportunities USA USD. I’m not about to change anything on this area of the portfolio.

Real estate, via Henderson Global Property is another strong performer, returning 10% since it appeared in the portfolio.

While I’m more or less satisfied with Threadneedle Enhanced Commodities, it is pretty volatile, and I’m keeping an eye on DB Platinum Commodity RIC-C SGD Hedged if the former continues to track the latter.

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