Recently I have been reticent about my dealings on the stock market because there haven’t been any. My last transaction was to top up my ISA in April.
You might be interested in the composition of my ISA – I will tell you anyway because I’m interested.
AVI Global Trust 9.46%
Haleon 2.67%
Legal & General 8.76%
Monks 9.19%
North Atlantic Smaller Companies 11.45%
Personal Assets 34.43%
RIT Capital Partners 13.44%
Vietnam Enterprise 5.29%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunities 5.29%
While I have been sitting on my hands RIT continues to buy back its shares and has bought in 8.5%. A more aggressive buyback programme is going on in the Baillie Gifford stable. Monks has repurchased 22.9% of its shares since 2022 and just in the period March to October this year Scottish Mortgage paid more than £1 billion to buy back 8.3% of its shares and will likely repurchase a similar quantity next year. RIT has a large enough family holding not to worry about unwelcome takeover overtures. The Rothschilds own about 22%. But they do want to narrow the discount. The NAV is above £26 and the share price below only just above £19. At BG activist investors are circling.
I have been reading articles about commission charges for dealing and tips about switching in and out of various areas and stocks versus bonds – that sort of thing. It is not relevant to a stay-put trader like me.
At the end of next month It’s time to pay the tax man. Attritional changes to tax rates on unearned income (that’s dividends) make this increasingly onerous. Fortunately the sharp rise in dividends from MP Evans provides more than enough to settle my bill. I will sell some Premium Bonds to pay for my 2025 ISA investment.