October saw my net worth increase by 3%, with gains in property, equities & savings partly offset by lower pension unit values. There were also favourable fx movements in the month resulting in an update to my conversion rates.
The value of my investment portfolio increased by around 1.6% with steep falls in the beginning of the month more than offset by a stronger second half of the month & favourable fx movements. I added to my UK & Europe positions following market falls.
My pension fund unit values fell slightly, mainly from UK & HK equities exposure.
Property rental income was paid in full & on time. I increased the recorded value of my property by 5% following consistently increasing local valuations.
Cash balances were flat, with larger than average investments using up most of my savings in the month. Costs were better than average, excluding some planned travel.
Year to date net worth growth: 25%
Year to date savings rate: 65%
Thursday, 30 October 2014
VUKE.L & IDVY.L Purchased
Earlier in the month i looked to take advantage of some fairly steep falls in european equities markets with a couple of new purchases.
Firstly i added to my existing holding of the Eurozone high dividend ETF (IDVY) at around GBP13.88 a unit. There has been a lot of negative sentiment about eurozone growth (or lack of) but the sharp fall in equities markets looked on the face of it to be a bit of an over-reaction, or technical correction - there wasn't anything out there we didn't know already. To me this represented a good buying opportunity of a well diversified dividend payer.
In addition i increased my UK equities exposure, but instead of adding to my existing UK high dividend ETF (IUKD) i instead opted for the much lower cost Vanguard FTSE100 tracker. With costs of only 9bps compared to 40bps on the iShares high dividend ETF, i figured the cheaper cost would offset a lot of the dividend premium, whilst offering additional diversification against a wider basket of shares. As an index, the FTSE100 is a relatively high dividend payer anyway, so well see how it goes. The unit cost was around GBP28.7.
Incidentally i was tempted to buy the Vanguard europe index tracker (VERX) for similar reasons, but having only just been launched it didn't yet appear to be actively traded on my online broker platform, hence sticking with IDVY. This may instead be one to watch for the future.
Firstly i added to my existing holding of the Eurozone high dividend ETF (IDVY) at around GBP13.88 a unit. There has been a lot of negative sentiment about eurozone growth (or lack of) but the sharp fall in equities markets looked on the face of it to be a bit of an over-reaction, or technical correction - there wasn't anything out there we didn't know already. To me this represented a good buying opportunity of a well diversified dividend payer.
In addition i increased my UK equities exposure, but instead of adding to my existing UK high dividend ETF (IUKD) i instead opted for the much lower cost Vanguard FTSE100 tracker. With costs of only 9bps compared to 40bps on the iShares high dividend ETF, i figured the cheaper cost would offset a lot of the dividend premium, whilst offering additional diversification against a wider basket of shares. As an index, the FTSE100 is a relatively high dividend payer anyway, so well see how it goes. The unit cost was around GBP28.7.
Incidentally i was tempted to buy the Vanguard europe index tracker (VERX) for similar reasons, but having only just been launched it didn't yet appear to be actively traded on my online broker platform, hence sticking with IDVY. This may instead be one to watch for the future.
Property value update
I periodically review the value i record my investment property against the local market using valuation websites, local properties on the market and recent local sales.
According to all these indicators, local valuations are still increasing, so i've added an extra 5% to my recorded valuation. Despite the latest increase, i'm still holding it at 10% below the market as i remain somewhat skeptical about how sustainable the recent price increases can be.
Property remains by far and away my most successful asset class, generating high yield along with material capital gains.
According to all these indicators, local valuations are still increasing, so i've added an extra 5% to my recorded valuation. Despite the latest increase, i'm still holding it at 10% below the market as i remain somewhat skeptical about how sustainable the recent price increases can be.
Property remains by far and away my most successful asset class, generating high yield along with material capital gains.
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