Things have been busy in the office, so no time to update the portfolio on the blog.
There has been plenty happening and my current SIPP portfolio is as follow:-
Investment Trusts
Aberforth Small Co IT (ASL): 162 shares
Blackrock World Mining IT (BRWM): 800 shares
Edinburgh Dragon IT (EFM): 550 shares
Fidelity Asian Values IT (FAS): 700 shares
Henderson European Focus IT (HEFT): 700 shares
Herald IT (HRI): 1000 shares
JPMorgan Emerging Markets IT (JMG): 300 shares
JPMorgan Mid Cap IT (JMF): 1340 shares
Jupiter US Smaller Co IT (JUS): 230 shares
Individual Companies
Friends Life Group (FLG): 1900 shares
International Personal Finance (IPF): 1500 shares
Optimal Payments (OPAY): 3000 shares
Cash: £12,994.72
Probably the main thing to happen is that I've taken a loss on £HSBA and moved-on from that company. I bought at an average of 690 which (as it turned out) was too high. At the time of buying-in, I expected to be able to trade-out at over 730 but, instead, the price was weak and vulnerable to rumour. Overall, I sold out at an average of 637 recording a loss of £1,690.65 - all prices include the cost of trading. Taking the dividend income into account, which amounted to £538.22, the "nett" loss was reduced to £1,152.43.
Due to work constraints, my ability to monitor, research and trade in individual company shares has been restricted since 1st January. As such, I've expanded my portfolio of Investment Trust shares. While this maintains my exposure to the markets, there is no opportunity for speculative gains (or losses). Looking objectively at the portfolio of IT's, there is probably too much exposure to smaller companies. I'm going to explore moving part of the portfolio into a larger FTSE100-based IT such as Temple Bar (TMPL) or Perpetual Income & Growth (PLI) and reducing exposure to smaller companies.
Of the individual company holdings, it was only recently that I bought into Friends Life Group (FLG) and I've aquired the 1900 shares at an average of 318. Currently, the stock stands at 332 so I'm sitting on a paper profit of about £250. This share has a lot of potential upside in my opinion, as well as a healthy dividend income, and I'd expect it to be above 360 before the end of this year, maybe even testing the 400 mark.
International Personal Finance (IPF) has had its ups and downs but, overall, this looks a very strong business. When it's been on the up the price has easily breached 600 and touched an all-time high of 683. So, even though it's been hovering around the 575 mark for most of the summer, I think we'll see considerable upside and 700+ is not an unreasonable target.
My favourite holding is Optimal Payments (OPAY) and I only wish I'd bought more when the share traded at under 320 in May this year. This company only has a market value of £750 million (based on a share price of 450) and it would not surprise me in the least to see this company double in value in the next couple of years. It has just about cornered the market in internet "electronic" money and there is only one-way this market is going: up. Sooner or later, a big player is going to open it's chequebook and (without a doubt) a bidding war will ensue. Hang on to your hats!
