My portfolio MSCI World Index
2019 41.6% 27.7%
2020 34.5% 15.9%
2021 0.7% 21.8%
There’s no sugar-coating it. Annual return for 2021 was disappointing and the past three months have been challenging. However, it is useful to remind ourselves that good investing requires persistence in a journey where volatility is expected. Looking at the best investors, their success came about not because they were able to time the markets, but because they stayed committed when times were tough.
Not many companies divide opinions more than Tesla. Is it a capital intensive company operating in a highly competitive industry, with a founder that shoots off his mouth from the hip? Or is it a revolutionary company with a cult-like global following and an iconoclastic founder?
The first five months of 2021 saw high growth tech names – the biggest beneficiaries of 2020 – suffer large declines. The ARK Innovation ETF – a proxy for high growth tech – declined 39% peak-to-trough in this period. My portfolio was not spared either.
My portfolio MSCI World Index
2019 41.6% 27.7%
2020 34.5% 15.9%
Heading into 2020 on the back of a strong 2019, no one could have foreseen the vicissitudes in the stock market as a result of public health and its impact on the economy. If you are reading this, I hope you went through 2020 relatively unscathed. Continue reading
What an interesting 3 months it has been! When such sudden and rapid market movements happen, they catch investors off-guard and create a great deal of panic and uncertainty. Yet many also view this as a time to profit from the volatility and make their next pot of gold. Continue reading
So my son’s 10 years old and I’m not really sure where the seeds of his interest came from. The only time my wife and I talked about entrepreneurship in front of the kids was when he was in Primary 1. There was one Art lesson during the Chinese New Year period. Students had to use red packets to build a lantern. One of his classmates brought extra red packets and sold them to classmates who did not have enough. Lol, enterprising young lad! Continue reading
Friends who are familiar with my evolution as an investor will know how I evolved from a Graham-style investor (low valuation multiples) to one that focuses on companies with strong competitive advantages and can compound their earnings over very long periods of time, often decades. (I will use the term Compounder to describe these companies.)
I am also glad such a strategy has worked well for me financially. Over the past 4 years, this strategy returned 16.8% CAGR. In the most recent calendar year, my stock portfolio returned 41.6%. Continue reading
Position sizing is an oft-neglected aspect of building an investment portfolio, yet it is possibly as important as the ability to pick good stocks. In an optimal portfolio, capital would be heavily weighted in the winners and lightly weighted in the losers. Yet in reality, this is almost never the case. Continue reading
Three years ago, in May 2014, I left a comfortable job to pursue my interests as a full-time investor. I had done pretty well as a part-time investor for years and thought pursuing my interest full-time would be fulfilling, both spiritually and financially. At that time, I gave myself 3 years to produce results. If things did not go according to plan, I had a solid Plan B to become a full time poker player. Continue reading
Markel first appeared on my radar when friends and online reports were touting it as a well-run ship that had the potential to be the next Berkshire Hathaway. Given Berkshire’s extraordinary long term record for its shareholders, any company that could offer the promise of such returns was bound to get me excited.
In this report, I explore Markel’s track record in running its insurance underwriting business, how its investment inclinations make it different from many other companies in the industry, and finally, whether it truly can be the next Berkshire Hathaway. Continue reading
An Investment Pilgrim's Journal 