My performance for the second quarter of 2021 arrived last week and I’m giving myself a small pat on the back.
All the gains this year came in Q2. But the market in general has been strong so it’s relevant to compare my portfolio with a benchmark: the MSCI world index. In Q2 the index was up 7.05% and I managed 9.38%. In the year July 2020/21 the index gained 25.10% and my portfolio went up 34.68%. Looks quite good but in another part of the forest things are not going so well.
I have no precise data on my ISA but it seems to have gone up by about 5% annually in the last three years. This is very poor considering I reinvest the dividends and add the maximum to capital. The fees are modest, shares in Vietnam and a few other investment trusts have done well but Glaxo and Marks & Spencer have been a drag.
Both portfolios are funds of funds with shares in a few individual companies, all managed by me. I think you might hire me to advise you if you only saw how I performed in my first portfolio and I think you’d be sacking me if I managed your funds as poorly as I have managed my ISA.