Portfolio Status - Next Steps

[pds2008]

Afternoon all

The table below shows my current holdings which amount to 76% of all assets - the remainder is in cash. Some holdings have been held for 10 years or more but many are newly held, especially the IT's. I have been drip feeding into this portfolio over the last year since retiring in 2018. My goal is income and current yield (net of fees) is 5.2%. I will be taking part as income and reinvesting the remainder to cover inflation. My other income is in the form of a SIPP in drawdown until my occupational pension kicks in at 60.

I am nervous about converting any more cash this side of Brexit, and am currently looking at options for my next purchases.



On my watchlist for shares are Rio Tinto and BP. I do not have any specific IT's in mind but would like some exposure to Europe, Emerging Markets, USA and alternative energy sectors.

I will be analysing performance of this HYP over the coming years, but right now would appreciate some observations about where I am, current weighting, where I should be looking, etc

Thanks in advance

Yell

[Dod101]

Looks like a good spread to me, the only obvious flaw might be Vodafone. You are obviously cautious with 13.5% in bond funds and a big slug of cash on the sidelines. I would be inclined to get the cash working (Subject of course to a decent buffer) and drop the bond funds to no more than 10%.

You could buy Chesnara and/or Phoenix Holdings although you might prefer a conventional life insurer, Legal and General. They all three have a yield around 6%.

Dod

[pds2008]

Looks like a good spread to me, the only obvious flaw might be Vodafone. You are obviously cautious with 13.5% in bond funds and a big slug of cash on the sidelines. I would be inclined to get the cash working (Subject of course to a decent buffer) and drop the bond funds to no more than 10%.

You could buy Chesnara and/or Phoenix Holdings although you might prefer a conventional life insurer, Legal and General. They all three have a yield around 6%.

Dod

Thanks Dod - valued advice as always

I have another influx of cash over the summer and do not intend to add to bond holdings so it should naturally reduce to under 10% in time.

I will look into Chesnara/Phoenix - neither of which had been on my radar. I did hold L&G in my SIPP so it is a contender. Vodafone (like M&S) is a legacy holding sitting there in hope rather than expectation. I am a customer of both and that has probably clouded my judgement even though the dividend has been good up to now.

Yell

[tjh290633]

Don't make the mistake of conflating your HYP shares with your ITs of all persuasions. Keep records of them separately, but by all means keep an overall record as well. The point is that your portfolio is a mongrel and some breeders of HYPs may object to it not being pure bred.

Personally I would ditch the bond funds, probably going more for global equity. I prefer to be fully invested.

TJH

[seagles]

I recently brought into MCT for North America and JETI for Europe. Worth a look.

[Backache]

I am nervous about converting any more cash this side of Brexit, and am currently looking at options for my next purchases.

Personally I would question this tactic with your portfolio construction.
Although I have opinions on Brexit I pretend no knowledge as to the outcomes or how well they have been priced by the financial markets.
But it seems to me that you have a high proportion of your portfolio in UK stocks many of them domestically orientated you are holding cash presumably in Sterling and you are anticipating a pension presumably also Sterling denominated.

If, and I reiterate this is not a prediction, Brexit goes badly and hits the domestic economy and quite probably Sterling , you could be on the adverse side with your cash , pension and share portfolio.
I again emphasise this is not a prediction and you may do well out of all holdings but I do not think that holding cash and a domestically orientated portfolio is keeping it safe.

[pds2008]

I am nervous about converting any more cash this side of Brexit, and am currently looking at options for my next purchases.

Personally I would question this tactic with your portfolio construction.
Although I have opinions on Brexit I pretend no knowledge as to the outcomes or how well they have been priced by the financial markets.
But it seems to me that you have a high proportion of your portfolio in UK stocks many of them domestically orientated you are holding cash presumably in Sterling and you are anticipating a pension presumably also Sterling denominated.

If, and I reiterate this is not a prediction, Brexit goes badly and hits the domestic economy and quite probably Sterling , you could be on the adverse side with your cash , pension and share portfolio.
I again emphasise this is not a prediction and you may do well out of all holdings but I do not think that holding cash and a domestically orientated portfolio is keeping it safe.

Thanks for the comment - any suggestions?

Yell

[Backache]

Thanks for the comment - any suggestions?

Yell

I guess it depends a bit where your preferences are whether to use IT's , passive funds or active OEIC's.
In IT's I would think about generalists maybe Bankers, Brunner, F&C or Alliance Trust or adding to Murray International if you want more income,
For passives I look at Vanguard but there's plenty of others
For active OEICs Fundsmith is pretty growth orientated and Vanguard have a couple of active funds with low costs that can be either balanced with some fixed interest , income orientated or global equity. Vanguards US active funds do I believe have a good reputation without seeking to shoot the lights out.