A Dog’s Dinner

Bertie is off-colour. He had a sore paw and then caught kennel cough in the vets’ waiting room.

Symptoms are tail down, not wanting to go for walks and loss of appetite. Even the gourmet selection R sourced cannot tempt him but he is pleased that a ban on foie gras imports was dropped from the Queen’s Speech. I’m pleased too.

Another dog’s dinner is the stock market. Scottish Mortgage has lost almost 50% in the last six months. I am of course a long term investor and am not bailing out. SM is up about 100% over the last five years. Its Baillie Gifford stable-mate Monks has lost 33% but over five years has returned more than 40%. This is a contrast to a “safer” investment trust, Witan.

Witan performance, Hargreaves Lansdown, May 2022.

I espouse investment trusts; not all investment trusts. Witan has never been the fastest greyhound in the race and now looks as if it should be part of Bertie’s dinner. It has returned 1% a year over five years while charging its shareholders almost 2% a year in fees. If you are in Witan you’ve got your troubles.