Race with the Benchmark

Unlike the clear lead that I had over STI ETF in the past 2 years, my portfolio’s return has lagged the benchmark this year thus far.

It has been a tough race and just when I thought I have caught up in March, it zoomed past me in April while I suffered a trip due to the sell down in the electronics and semi-conductor sectors.

With the support from dividend and the slip by the STI ETF last month, I closed the gap again. This is how it stands now, I am 5.6% behind the benchmark and 10.6% behind my targeted return of 8%.

Think Long Term

As I have written in an earlier post on investment timeframe, having a 3 to 5 years timeframe for each investment idea allows one not to take unnecessary actions when there is a fluctuation in the share price. The same approach applies for portfolio return. A one-year weaker (or stronger) performance should not be a yardstick to determine if the approach is sound or not. And one should not change his strategies on that basis.Computed the latest numbers and I feel much better immediately.

Of course, historical return does not mean it will repeat in the future as circumstances and risk tolerance will change. Hence, it is important for me to continue to monitor and review the short term performance such that it will not impact the long term return.