SIPP Portfolio 30th April 2025 - it's been a tough 100 days!

 I've been afraid to look at my SIPP in recent weeks, as the news coming out of the USA has been just too depressing. Oh, for the benefit of hindsight!

In simple terms, we're all up the creek without a paddle - unless you are part of the Trump entourage with a handle on what madcap decision he is going to invoke next, and can (therefore) buy or sell your portfolio accordingly: otherwise known as insider trading.  If the rumours and evidence on social media are to be believed - and I've not seen anything to counter them - the Trump entourage have made a killing on the markets, while the rest of us have been presented with a 15% "correction" which may not be the end of the market turmoil. 

Over the last 100 days, my SIPP has dropped in value from around just under £280,000 to a 12-month low of £227,000, before recovering to £257,000 as I write today.  It has been nerve-wracking.

I've tried to stem the turmoil and losses, and better-position the SIPP for recovery by selling the entire holding in the S&P500 (CSP1), British & American Tobacco (BATS), and Seplat (SEPL). I've also made a small reduction in the holding of HG Capital trust (HGT).  I've redistributed the funds into Allianz Technology (ATT), Edinburgh Investment Trust (EDIN), Palantir (PLTR.US) and the TP ICAP Group (TCAP).

Currently, my holding are:-

3i Group: 677 shares valued at £28,555

ATT: 5000 shares valued at £17,425

EDIN: 4328 shares valued at £33,195

HGT: 11000 shares valued at £55,880

IMB: 684 shares valued at £20,985

JGGI: 11930 shares valued at 60,007

PLTR.US: 164 shares valued at £14,244.48

TCAP: 10648 shares valued at £26,939

The SIPP Portfolio has value of approx £257,000 with a small amount of cash.

Where do we go from here?

SIPP Portfolio update 22nd January 2025

As advised with my last blog, having missed the latest target set for the blog (£500k by 8th Nov 2024) I've readjusted my goals, and would like to have a SIPP fund value of £325k in 1st May 2026. 

My intention then is to drawdown the SIPP in quarterly lump sums of £6,000 (£24,000pa) which represents approx 7.50%.  This was pointed out to me by a reader as being a tad on the high side, and I realise that; but then my long term intention is to leave nothing to my 3 sons. 

My eldest son works for an investment bank, and is in the process of buying a home for £1.30m - he's 34yo. By comparison, I grew up on a Liverpool council estate in the 1960's & 70's, and the home I live in is valued at £750k. I've worked damn hard for my money, and (in life's game of snakes & ladders) I've landed on a couple of snakes in my time, and very few ladders. Twice in the past 30 years I've gone back to the "start" (due to divorce and separation). Even with my choice of career (construction quantity surveyor), I'd be very comfortably off if I'd made a better choice of life's partner.

My middle son, after a stuttering start, is now on his way in his chosen career, and (fingers crossed) he'll be okay without any financial assistance from me.

My youngest son is about to graduate in Mathematics, and has a job offer from an international defence contractor that is over £100k pa (he's 22yo). 

So, overall, I don't think my boys will be in need of an inheritance from me - and I'm going to spend it.

I've been reading through a few old blogs, and that of 18th April 2017 is interesting. Theresa May had just announced a General Election for the 8th June, and I speculated that the decision was "brave or stupid - depending on the eventual result". I thought the voting may result in another coalition government, and there was in a way, as it was the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionists of Northern Ireland who formed it.  

The following week, on 22nd April 2017, I wrote a 5-year review of the SIPP and concluded that had I placed my entire SIPP into the 3i Group (Investment Trust) which was trading at 215p in August 2012, my SIPP would have had a value of £220,000 in April 2017 instead it was valued at £130,000.  With the shareprice of the 3i Group now at 3840 (and it was 775 on 22nd April 2017), had I continued pumping my SIPP funds into 3i and left them there, the SIPP would not have a value of £270,000 but would be well over £1 million, probably closer to £1.20m.

Sometimes, the most simple investment strategies are the ones that work the best.

I've been consolidating the SIPP recently. 

I've sold-off my losing speculative investment in Helix Exploration (HEX), to be honest I don't know what I was thinking when I did that and it's cost me about £4,000. 

My holding in Palantir (PLTR.US) has been halved to 100 shares, mainly as it's jumping up & down: it's been up nearly 20% and down 5% and it could be up 20% tomorrow or down 20% - it's like watching a roulette wheel.

I've also trimmed HG Capital IT (HGT) as the size of the holding was affecting the overall performance of the SIPP; it's SP is hitting a glass ceiling of 550p.

I've pumped the resulting funds into Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) as it holds 40% of it's value in the top-6 US tech companies (Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon) and is currently trading on a 10.50% discount. That has to be a bargain. 

 

Portfolio Update: Strategy and future

2025: it's a big year for me, as I'm 66yo (or hope to be) on 8th November 2025 and will be able to draw on my Old Age Pension from the government.  My current plan is to commence drawing my pension from my 66th birthday - as there's no benefit in delaying payment - but, also, to carry on working at least until Easter 2026.  My current employment isn't too taxing on the brain-cells, and I enjoy the camaraderie of the office: I'm also paid a decent salary. 

The downside to staying in full-time employment is the lack of paid holidays, so I'm planting the idea in my manager's mind that I could be a useful "mentor and assessor" on a part-time basis. 

Will that work? Who knows?

What I'm not going to do is a paid hobby: nobody values skills anymore, and having visited a number of craft fairs on the run-up to Christmas, and watched skilled craft-makers struggling to sell their (sometimes) high quality goods for little more than cost-price, there's little point in doing that.

I've been writing my horseracing blog for 15 years (I've been following horseracing for nearly 60 years being introduced to the sport by my dad when I was a 7yo), and while I know I'm good at reading the form and spotting horses that are better than they have yet to show on the track (the only way to win at the sport is to spot potential earlier than anyone else), the number of hours that you have to put in versus the rewards do not merit the effort involved.  As such, this jumps season (which ends in April), will probably be my last one writing the horseracing blog. 

That's not to say I'm abandoning blog writing, I really enjoy it. The whole experience of writing gives me the chance to examine my thoughts, and set out my plans in a manner to accomplish them. The Pension Builder blog will continue unabated, in fact I can see it becoming more detailed.  The "upsides" of the Pension Builder blog are far greater than having £20 on a 6/1 chance at Haydock come in 1st. 

Having missed the initial target of the blog - £500,000 by my 65th birthday - I'm re-assigning my goals. I'd like to have a SIPP fund value of £325,000 on 1st May 2026.

From that, my intention is to drawdown approx 7.50% per annum (£24,000) which - after tax - will bolster my Old Age Pension by £20,400pa. I think that would provide a comfortable retirement.  My SIPP goal will be to grow the fund to meet that withdrawal, and some.  I expect we shall have inflation of an average of 5% for the foreseeable future, and endeavouring to grow the SIPP value to be able to cover that will be vitally important.

At the moment, I'm having an in-depth review of my SIPP holdings, and can't advise what changes I shall be making just yet. However, I am indebted to the recent post by Cassini, writer of the "Green All Over" blog - the link is on the right - as that resulted in a spike in readers of this blog. I hope some of those who visited, enjoyed what they found and will return again. What I found particularly interesting was the overlapping of our personal circumstances (we're both, reading between the lines, around the same age and soon to be reliant on our pension funds) and investment strategies. We are both on the lookout for multiple "baggers", we both use index-trackers as the bedrock of the SIPP, and we both have a element of "play" money for more speculative investments which may (or may not) come off. I always find synergies like this interesting: is it because we are "boomers", is it something to do with the way we were brought-up and the values we inherited, could it be just coincidence? 

That's it for now, lunchtime is over - back to the grindstone. 

SIPP Update - 16th December 2024

There was a bit of a technical glitch with the previous blog - the screenshot of the portfolio didn't work. 

I've had a play-around with the settings, and I've managed to sort things out - but, unfortunately, I've lost the previous screenshot from 5th November.

As you can see, there's been a few changes. 

I've sold both holdings in insurance companies - Aviva and Legal & General. As it happened, I sold LGEN too early and missed the price spike to 240p, but the SP has already slipped to under 230p. Yes, both these companies are high yield payers, but the SP in both companies is on a slow downward trajectory.

Generally, I've had a clear-out of the high yield shares: out has gone City of London IT (CTY), Lloyds Bank (LLOY), National Grid (NG.), Sirius real Estate (SRE), Taylor Woodrow (TW.), and Unilever (ULVR).

These have been replaced with cigarette companies: British American Tobacco (BATS) and Imperial Brands (IMB). Both have provided very solid gains in their SP  - BATS up 10.5% and IMB up 13.7% - and they both are high yielders. I'm happy having them in the portfolio, I should have brought them in ages ago.

I've increased my holding in TP ICAP Group as momentum builds in the share price - I'm now showing 15% gains.

As a result of Trump winning the US presidency - I'm no fan of his by-the-way - I've invested a 12th of my portfolio value into the S&P 500 via iShares. I've no idea which way the US stockmarket will go, but (if it goes up substantially) I don't want to miss out.

Then there have been some speculative moves:-

Seplat (SEPL): this Nigerian oil company could be sitting on a literal "gold mine", and (fingers crossed) there should be a significant SP move in the coming couple of months.

Helium Exploration (HEX): this is risky - I've no idea about this one, and the "golden rules" of investing are don't put money into things you don't understand - but my gut feeling is that there is money to be made here.

Finally, Palantir (PLTR.US): before last month I'd not heard of this company, and then my 22yo son (he's a mathematics graduate) gets a job offer with a salary attached that makes my eyes water. This company could be the next Amazon and Tesla rolled into one. 

Hopefully, the next time I post I will be reporting some substantial gains. 

5th November - SIPP Update

Time for an update.

I started writing this blog last week, but I wanted to put in too much detail (I will endeavour to expand later this month) and events overtook me, so let's just get this done!

Unfortunately, I have to report that the SIPP has just been going sideways for the past 3 months. 

At my last posting, I held positions in 13 shares totalling a portfolio value of £256,270. 

Probably more out of frustration at the lack of growth, I have been re-structuring the portfolio in the past few weeks.

The current situation is as below:

 

Back in the game! SIPP Portfolio 19th July 2024

After a couple of years on the sidelines I'm back in the market trying to make the most of a depleted SIPP in preparation for retirement day (planned to be Easter 2026).  

When I last posted on this blog, the SIPP was valued at  £271,068 - down from a peak of £307,654 on 8th November 2021.

That decline in value didn't stop on 30th July 2022.

By 31st October 2022, the SIPP value was down to £246,678.

There was a small recovery over the winter to £257,899 by 31st January 2023.

However, the SIPP value went sideways then, dropping to £251,878 by 30th April 2023.

That's when it took another hit (mainly due to the collapse in value of KWS - Keywords Studios), and the value on 31st July 2023 was just £230,970.

As the year progressed things didn't get any better, and by 31st October 2023, the SIPP value was down to £221,197; by which time I was thinking "why didn't I sell the whole portfolio and convert into cash last July?" Oh, for the benefit of hindsight! I had actually sold-off 40% of the portfolio into cash in June 2022, so it could have been worse (or, could it?). 

That was the bottom, and by 31st January 2024 the SIPP value was £234,476 - still nearly 10% down on the previous January value, and nearly 24% down on the all-time-high. 

That was the signal for me to reinvest back into the market, and I've been 100% all-in since 1st February 2024.

Currently, the SIPP portfolio is as per the screenshot below.

The plan is to position the portfolio into more of an income generator than a pure growth vehicle.

As can be seen from the above when comparing the portfolio to previous screenshots from 2022, I caught a massive cold from KWS and Segro (SGRO).

There's a few reasons for posting this blog. 

1) it's fairly obvious now than some of my success at finding decent shares in the past has been pure luck. 

2) buying the right shares is only part of the problem - it's knowing when to sell!  I hung-on to shares in companies whose fortunes had transformed for the worse, when I should have been more mercenary and cut & run. That misguided loyalty and blind faith cost me many tens of thousands of pounds.

3) In not writing the blog, mainly due to my despondency over the falling value of the SIPP, I took my eye off the ball.  There is no good reason for this, I should have spent a weekend analysing the situation and (if nothing else) just lumped the portfolio into a Global Growth Investment Trust like JGGI. As per the chart below, if I had sold my entire portfolio in July 2022 (when valued at around £270k) and put the whole lot into JGGI at the (then) SP of 425p, then my SIPP would have a value today at around £350k. Again, oh for the benefit of hindsight - but that probably would have been a sensible strategy for an investment novice like me. 

I will be back in the coming weeks, with - hopefully - better news. 

Saturday 30th July 2022

 It has been a very difficult 6 months for the world: war, famine, climate catastrophe, inflation - and it's not over yet.

The SIPP Portfolio is down: no surprise there! 

Value of Equities = £266,877.60

Value of Cash = £4,186.22

TOTAL = £271,068.82

On the 1st January, the total value was at £309,757 and in the previous 4 months (1st Sept - 31st Dec) UK equities had been looking flat: no impetus, and nothing on the horizon to produce a better return.  In hindsight, I should have trimmed back at least my UK equity exposure.

Selling Diploma (DPLM) for an average of 2900 in January was a good move, as the SP dropped below 2250 and now looks to be on a recovery mode. And selling GB Group (GBG) for an average of 695 was another good move, as the SP dropped to just under 400 in early July. This is another company that "could" be on a recovery mode, but looks very cheap now and ripe for a takeover bid.  It's highly likely that I will take-up shares in both of these companies in August. 

SIPP value as at 1st January 2022

 Happy New Year!

For sure, 2021 has been a year to remember. This time last year, the SIPP value was £254,298 - so after deducting the annual contributions of £12,000 the total growth in the year has been £43,459 or 17.08%

The sole transaction in the month of December was the sale of Chelverton UK Equity Growth (I was using another quoted Chelverton fund - SDV - to identify the holding). The reason for the sale was that the UK market appears to have lost impetus, and while some investment houses are "bullish" about UK equities - I'm not. Things could all change should the current Prime Minister (or Government) be replaced, but with the current incumbents remaining in-charge confidence is low. An illustration of the weakness of UK equities is shown in the BlackRock Smaller Companies IT (BRSC) graph for the past 12 months (see below).  Up until the end of August the SP was growing rapidly -then September was a bit of a disaster.

I've moved the funds into the infrastructure Investment Trust 3i Infrastructure, which while not being a likely growth investment, is more of a defensive investment against future downturns. 

It hasn't all been doom & gloom, look at the SP performance of Diploma (DPLM) - up 52% during the 12 months of 2021; and while this company was also affected by the September dip, the recovery has been greater than the loss.

The star of the portfolio continues to be Segro (SGRO) - see the 12 month chart below.

My initial purchase of Segro share was in August 2014, when I bought 900 shares at 356p, and they are now 1431p - phenomenal performance and it appears to show no signs of stopping any time soon.

By this time next year, I'm setting target value of over £360,000 for the SIPP; fingers crossed I will achieve it.

SIPP value as at 1st December 2021

 One month on from the birthday blog and it has been a period of consolidation.

Unfortunately, a new variant of Covid has developed and that has put a dampener on the markets, taking a bit of the froth of the recent growth away.  Fingers crossed, we don't go into another spiral of falling values that hit the markets in Feb-March of 2020; but maybe the markets are more resilient now?

It's not a time to be doing anything drastic (just yet), and I'm on the lookout for where the next direction is coming from - so you may see a few share purchases in the next few months as I endeavour to reposition the SIPP portfolio for more growth.

The Birthday Blog - 62yo on Monday 8th November

 It is that time of year again: the Birthday Blog!

The plan is to "retire" on my 66th birthday on 8th November 2025, as that's when I can draw on my UK Old-Age Pension. About 5-years ago, my plan was to carry on working for as long as possible; but - probably due to Covid - I've decided that I'm going to give-up full-time work at the earliest opportunity and enjoy living rather than working.  I've still the same blog photo: taken at the time of my 50th birthday - maybe this is the time to change it.

This time last year, the SIPP value was at £243,147 - the SIPP had made a terrific recovery from the depths of despair surrounding the impact of Covid, and I was confident about the coming 12 months.  As per the table below, the value of the SIPP at close-of-business on Friday 5th November was £307,654 - and increase of £64,507.

As £12,000 of that increase was my own monthly contributions, that indicates a growth of £52,507 or 21.59% - an absolutely brilliant result even if I say say myself.  

I've smashed my target value of £291,000 for the year, and I'm 2-months ahead of my year-end target of £300,000.  You may notice that I have reduced the number of holdings from 13 down to 10, and in doing so I've increased the value of my "plays". 

The above graph doesn't show the value of the SIPP but only the value of the investment holdings not including cash.  The reason for the recent uplift is that after a period of holding +10% of cash, I'm now fully invested.  

Having broken the target for the year, I will recalculate the target for 8th Nov 2022, and (based on the final value achieved for 2021 on 31st December) will recalculate for the year ending 31st December 2022.

SIPP Value as at 1st Octber

Not the greatest month for the SIPP, as the value has gone down from £303,518 to £287,581 which is a drop of 5.25%.  

From the top, the changes are:-

Share                Prev Value            Current Value         Change £             Change %

BRSC                 £31,854                £30,362                    £1,492                (4.68%)

DPLM                £14,699                £13,804                    £895                   (6.08%)

GBG                  £24,146                £23,012                    £1,134                 (4.70%)

HGT                  £33,227                £31,919                    £1,308                 (3.93%)

IEFM                £29,728                £28,245                    £1,483                  (4.99%)

KWS                £41,486                £38,324                    £3,162                      (7.62%)

SDP                    £21,567                £20,803                    £764                    (3.52%)

SDV                    £29,658                £29,652**                £6                        0.00%

SGRO                £32,599                   £30,383                £2,216                    (6.80%)            

VUSA                £30,142                £29,166                    £976                        (3.24%)

SIPP Value as at 28th August 2021

 What a month!

Even though I've not added this months bi-monthly contribution to the portfolio (pay-in £1000 a month in installments of £2000 every-other month) the portfolio has cracked through £300,000 in value.

Progress has continued unabated, with BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) is up nearly 6% in the month; and Keywords Services (KWS) also up over 5%. Reducing my holding in VUSA and moving the money into Redde (REDD) was possibly done a bit too early, as VUSA is up 3.60% in the month.

Schroders Asia (SDP) has pulled back from a recent low but is still in a negative position.  The discount has been widening recently, but this investment trust is usually a good long-term play, and I will be exploring ways to increase the holding to 10% of the SIPP portfolio.

The month was a milestone for me outside the SIPP too, as my general investment portfolio of SIPP, ISA and general investments topped £500k, which - considering in April 2010 I had only a little over £300 to my name after 9 months of unemployment - I think is a tremendous achievement.

The current (as at 3rd September) 50-day moving averages are:

BRSC =  2050p

DPLM = 2995p

GBG = 865p

HGT = 385p

IEFM = 802p

KWS = 2800p

REDD = 422p

SDP = 600p

SGRO = 1210p

VUSA - 6150p

SIPP value as at 31st July 2021 - annual target hit 3 months early!

 What a month for the SIPP - it has already hit the value target for the year of £290,000 and that's 3 months early and with another £4,000 of monthly contributions yet to be paid in!  Remember, the value of the SIPP on 1st November (9 months ago) was £243,127 and my contributions since then have been £8,000 - so essentially £39,000 of capital growth in 9mths on £243,000; that's about 20% pa.

The target I set was based on maintaining the growth rate since I started managing the SIPP myself of 12.90%pa.  If I can hold onto and/or build on these gains between now and 1st November then I will have increased the overall growth-rate.

Performance has been tremendous: gains from GBG; HGT; IEFM; SGRO, VUSA; and a massive gain from KWS (this has to be a FTSE100 company within 3 years). 

The only loser in the period was SDP: Schroders Asia Pacific (IT) Fund which has been affected by the recent decisions of the Chinese government (pretty much out of the blue) to be "critical" of the major China-based internet companies. Also, the discount on this investment trust has grown to about 10%. In the hope of a reverse of fortunes on this holding, I have sold £7,000 of IEFM and moved the proceeds into SDP - it may be a good move, or it might not, time will tell.

Diploma (DPLM) has gone sideways for the past 3-months, after improving nearly 200% from 1st Jan 2018; and I'm thinking this is the time to take my profits and move into something else with more positive momentum.  Overall, I am a momentum investor: that's the one investment principle that has shown consistent positive results - what goes up, keeps going up (and what goes down, keeps going down).  So, I'm looking at companies whose SP's have improved over 10% in the past 3 months and have a market value of between £1bn - 3bn.

GB Group (GBG) is also going sideways - slightly - but I'm confident that the SP of this company will break through 1000 this year: and I expect this will come with a takeover bid from an American company - and that could mean a price of over 1500 could be seen in the next 12 months.

SIPP on 6th July 2021

 

The SIPP is looking good as we enter the 2nd-half of 2021.

Smaller Companies (BRSC) has overperformed and is now 10.70% of the portfolio value: this is a "benchmark" holding at 10% of the portfolio.

HGT which is my "private equity" investment trust is also over performing, and is 10.80%. 

There's a couple of holdings which are under-performing: SDP (Asia/Pacific) isn't doing well, and I'm not sure if this is a buying opportunity or time to cut & run and move the funds into something else.

Chelverton UK Equity Growth is just under 10% (I'm using another quoted Chelverton fund SDV to identify the holding above), but I'm not unduly worried about this holding.  I'm more worried with my European Momentum ETF (IEFM) which appears to be going sideways.

The IT holdings GBG and KWS are well down on their 12-month highs but both have serious upside potential - so no worries there for me.

Segro (SGRO) goes from strength-to-strength and is one of the best share purchases that I've made in 10 years of managing my own pension - just wish I'd found this company earlier and had the conviction to invest more of my SIPP.

The S&P500 investment trust managed by Vanguard (VUSA) is up 9% which is tremendous considering a 3rd of my holding was purchased in mid-April just 3-months ago.

So, all looking good and I will probably just undertake a small amount of rebalancing. 

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.