SIPP at COP 16th April 2021

 No posts for a few weeks, been very busy.

The SIPP is looking tremendous.  The value is at a record high and I think there's a long way to go this year. My target for the year-end is £300,000 and at one stage this year (early March) I was getting a bit worried that I was likely to fall well short of that target - but my, what a rally in recent weeks!

Since my "birthday blog" on 8th November 2020 (long-term plan is to "retire" on the day before my 67th birthday in 2026) the SIPP has gained £29,500 of which £6,000 is contributions; so that's £23,500 gain, equivalent to just under 10% - if this keeps up the £300,000 for 31st December could be hit a bit earlier.

My "bellweather" holding of Blackrock Smaller Companies IT (BRSC) which should always be about 10% of my entire SIPP portfolio value is just ahead: having gained £5,154 in the same period, or 22%. Personally, I think there is a fair bit of headroom still to fill as smaller companies have huge potential to unlock in the immediate post-Covid period. If the holding reaches 12% of portfolio value then I shall re-balance. 

The major factor of the portfolio in the past 6 months has been the reduction in the individual company holdings and transfer of the value into Investment Trusts and ETF's. There's a couple of reasons for this. 1) Plain SIPP management: I'm happy to accept that I do not have the expertise to beat professional financial managers.  Occasionally, I strike lucky and play against the market; but finding situations that my "gut" tells me is an opportunity is time-consuming. 2) I want to be in the market, and diversified, but to mitigate the risk of violent fluctuations in value. 

So, in respect of reason (1) above, I sold holdings in:- 

Dunelm (DNLM): wrong move as sold at 1200p and the SP is now 1440p (up 20%)

Dechra Pharma (DPH): sold at 3200p and the SP is now 3850p (up 25%) 

Hikma Pharma (HIK): sold at 2340p and the SP is now 2365p (n/c)

Homeserve (HSV): sold at 1164p and the SP is now 1184p (n/c)

Spirent Communications (SPT): sold at 263p and the SP is now 243p (down 9%)

That's 3 out of 5 good calls, but the couple I called wrong would not have compensated for the 3 that I called right - so, overall, I made the right calls.

In respect of reason (2) above:-

I sold my holding in (US) S&P500 Info Technology ETF (IITU) at 1178p as I thought my holdings in technology were too great for my portfolio, and the SIPP was vulnerable to a negative market sentiment. That ETF is now at 1300p (up 10%).

New additions include:-

iShares - MSCI Europe Momentum Factors UCITS ETF (IEFM): it's a bit of a mouthful, but a ETF specializing in "momentum" shares of European companies.

iShares - CORE FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (ISF): and ETF specializing in the FTSE100.

Schroder Asia Pacific IT (SDP): I have been in & out of this share, and now I'm back in.

Vanguard - S&P 500 UCITS ETF (VUSA): this is a more general S&P500 ETF that the S&P500 Info Technology ETF that I sold out of (see above).

The "cash" element is not in cash: it is invested in Chelverton UK Equity Growth (Class B - Accumulation) Fund; but the London South East (www.LSE.co.uk) website does not track funds.

I like to keep an eye on the moving averages, and if the SP of any holding drops below the 50-day MA then I make a note to keep an eye on it, and be prepared to sell if required.

The current 50-day MA's (as of 16th April) of the holdings are:

BRSC - 1785p

DPLM - 2525p

GBG - 850p

HGT - 330p

IEFM - 730p

ISF - sold since at 685p (50-day MA @ 665p) 

KWS - 2600p

SDP - 640p under scrutiny

SGRO - 940p

VUSA - 5400p

WWH - 3725p

SIPP at 15th February 2021

 It has been a little over 6-weeks since the SIPP was last reviewed, and a fair amount has changed.

I've SOLD Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK), mainly as the SP seemed to be going nowhere.  In fact, I ended-up selling at a loss, which was not good.  I also reduced my holding in WWH.

I've moved the proceeds into:

 BRSC; SDP; VUSA; and IEFM

31st December 2020

 

Annual growth rate is 8.59% 

Cumulative growth rate since August 2012 is 12.905%

It was a tricky year for the SIPP and I'm glad that I came out of it ahead, especially when the FTSE100 is down over 14% in the past 12 months (from 7542 to 6460), and the All-Share index is down over 12.40% (4196 to 3674).

The Target for 31st December 2021 is £300,000 (£299,803 to be exact) and that's based on maintaining growth at 12.905% for the next 12 months. 

The graph below (screenshot from LSE where I manage my portfolio) shows the volatility of the SIPP over the last year. You won't believe this, but after reading about Covid (then called Corona) in The Guardian on 16th January 2020, I told a close friend that Armageddon was coming! Over the next few weeks I sold-off 40% of my portfolio into cash (see value hit £125k on 1st March).

My close friend then convinced me that holding cash was the wrong thing to do, and he persuaded me to buy back in to the market (see value up to £180k in early March).

I then watched my SIPP value fall like a stone.

Thankfully, I didn't continue to listen to my friend and (in the period late-March to early-April) I restructured my Portfolio and took a decision to focus on internet-based companies as I anticipated those recovering quicker than traditional "bricks & mortar" companies.  Thankfully, I was right.

The lesson in this?

Keep your own company!

If you make a financial decision, don't bother telling anyone for confirmation - if they have missed the opportunity, they will only try and tell you to reverse it to level-up the playing field.  

People do not like to feel as if they have missed-out.

I made the same mistake with Bitcoin in 2016.

I bought £20,000 at US$2,500 and was convinced to sell when the BTC price was around US$3,800 as Bitcoin was a "fad".

If I'd followed my own instinct back in March, I'd probably have a SIPP of more than £300,000 now.

If I can maintain the current growth rate, and the contributions at £1,000 per month, then on my 67th birthday I can retire with a SIPP fund value of  £617,000.

The Birthday blog - 61yo on 8th November 2020

This is the annual anniversary "Pension Builder" blog post - which reminds me that it's about time I changed the profile photo which was taken just before my 50th birthday!

The SIPP portfolio as at close of business on Friday 6th November 2020 is as per the table below.  What I'm proud of is since 1st August 2012 - over 8 years ago - I've averaged growth of 12.85%pa. Sure, if I'd put my entire SIPP into the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT) then I'd be looking at a SIPP value well over £600,000 now, maybe more - but that would take a lot of trust!  I'm a big supporter of Investment Trusts, and if I had chosen a basket of IT's like SMT, such as Allianze Technology Trust (ATT), Edinburgh Worldwide IT (EWI), or even Monks IT (MNKS), then I'd have well-beaten my own investment performance.

It has been one helluva year for all of us, never mind the SIPP which has seen its own highs and lows in the past 12 months.  Just take a look at this graph of the Portfolio Value over the past 12 months!

There's  a lot of information to post on this blog, and it's likely to take me a bit of time, as I'm also going to take stock of my current financial position and look to reflect, and possibly rebalance the portfolio to take the best advantage not just of the next 12 months but for the next 5 years.

SIPP Value on 16th October 2020

 It's been a long time since the last post, and an awful lot has happened in the meantime.

The SIPP has been through some ups and downs, or should I say downs and ups?

From a "high" of £215,000 in early February, the SIPP value plunged due to Covid, then briefly recovered, then plunged again dropping to £130,000 - a correction of 40%. Thankfully, I pretty much held my nerve and the 2nd recovery started in mid-March.  With the recovery underway, I reviewed and rebalanced my portfolio - not much, but I put more into IT companies which is where I anticipated the best gains would be, and it was a good guess!

Now, my portfolio is up to £226,000 and pretty much back on target.

From the blog posted on 13th May 2018.

Initial capital 1st August 2012 = £51,684
Projection used = 13% pa growth = 1.02% per month
For the first 36 months of the SIPP, monthly contributions were £300/mth.
Since August 2015, monthly contributions has been £750/mth.

Monthly contributions ceased on 7th June 2019.

A Lump Sum contribution of £14,000 was made on 24th January 2020 (unfortunately). 

August 1st to November 1st = 3 months
51,684 plus £300 x 3 = 52,584 @ 1.02% growth / month = £54,193

Year 1 (pe 01Nov13): b/f £54,193 plus £300 x 12; plus 1.02% growth / month = £65,029
Year 2 (pe 01Nov14): b/f £65,029 plus £300 x 12; plus 1.02% growth / month = £77,270
Year 3 (pe 01Nov15): b/f £77,270 plus £300 x 9 

and £750 x 3; plus 1.02% growth / month = £92,462

Year 4 (pe 01Nov16): b/f £92,462 plus £750 x 12; plus 1.02% growth / month = £113,978
Year 5 (pe 01Nov17): b/f £113,978 plus £750 x 12; plus 1.02% growth / month = £138,280
Year 6 (pe 01Nov18): b/f £138,280 plus £750 x 12; plus 1.02% growth / month = £165,735
Year 7 (pe 01Nov19): b/f £165,735 plus £750 x 8; plus 1.02% growth / month = £193,706
Year 8 (pe 01Nov20): b/f £193,706 plus £14,000 on 24Jan20; 

plus 1.17% growth / month = £234,166

My Target retirement fund value is £500,000

SIPP Value as at COP 4th February 2020

The intent is to post a screenshot of the SIPP portfolio at the start of each month.  I missed Monday morning, and finally got around to doing the job today (Wed 5th Feb - 0745 GMT).

The main point is that I was able to pay-in £14,000 from a company that I closed.  This will be my final contribution to the SIPP as I am no longer self-employed.  So performance will be a lot easier to monitor and measure from now on.
After making the deposit, my initial action was to buy 1300 shares at 417 in Avast (AVST) which I consider to be well over-sold following a security data issue which was (in my opinion) exaggerated. As of today (10th February) the SP of Avast is 462, so I'm happy the SP is moving in the right direction.
Since posting this screenshot, I've trimmed my holdings in both Segro (SGRO) and HG Capital Trust (HGT) to approximately £20,000 in value. The reasons being:
Segro looks a bit "ripe" and there may not be the opportunity to make similar gains in the SP in 2020 as was achieved in 2019; and
the NAV of HG Capital Trust revolves around it's shareholding in VISMA. HGT holds 50% of Visma, and that is over 20% of the NAV value of HGT. That seems a bit high a holding to me for an investment trust.

The SIPP Portfolio going into 2020