It’s Saturday it’s …

“It’s Saturday, It’s Lemons Day” was a sponsored programme on Radio Eirann when I was a child. I think it promoted sherbet lemons, a nourishing boiled sweet.

But, thank goodness, I have grown up a bit and now it’s Saturday it’s FTWeekend day. I was taken to lunch at Ognisko yesterday and am feeling a bit ropey this morning. At first sight my portfolio looks a bit ropey too. If I may digress, my neighbour at the Ralph Bathurst Society dinner told me her son looks at her portfolio valuation with her “and it’s all red!”

So let’s look at my three biggest losers, all in tech. Scottish Mortgage is down 45% in the last six months. Do I care? No I don’t because at today’s price I am still making 458% and it’s trading at a 16% discount to Net Asset Value. Monks is only up 43% but trading at a 10% discount to NAV. Herald Investment Trust is down about 20% but the NAV is at a 23% discount.

Now let’s look at my safety plays. McInroy & Wood Balanced Fund is up 5% over the last year. This is not ideal because the Retail Price Index has risen by 11% over the same period. But, I hope, you are a long term investor. Look at the ten year performance, M&W up 8%, RPI up 3%. And Personal Assets, up 1.5% in the last year. They are a bit boring when stocks are roaring up but they are a solace if you have a Saturday morning hangover and don’t need Sherbert Lemons in your portfolio.