The market remains volatile due to various macro conditions. A small boat in the vast ocean, my portfolio performance gyrated to its rhythm. The only thing that has remained steadfast is the dividend received.
Portfolio Performance
Amid the volatility, portfolio ekes out a decent 3.9% return for the quarter. Both SG and US portfolios managed to beat the benchmarks of ES3 and SPY respectively. While I am satisfied with the performance relative to the benchmark, I needed to remind myself of the harsh fact that current return is still 37% below the all time high achieved in late 2021. So it is still a long way to go!
Draw Down
Portfolio value hit a return of 10% (including projected dividend) at the beginning of February and I activated my draw down plan. Fortune smiled on me as the market plummeted in February after I sold about 5% of my portfolio to secure 2026 expenses. You can read the following two posts if you have missed what I have written about the above.
Without a regular income, this strategy serves me well. Especially in this current market condition, I can lock in some profit for future cash flow just in case Mr Market’s mood turns sour. On the other hand, I still have the bulk of my portfolio to enjoy any upside if he decides to stay happy for a longer time.
Dividend
Despite the draw down in early February, Q1 dividend has stayed resilient and is slightly higher than what was collected last year. If everything remains as status quo, there should be a slight dip in dividend collected for the remaining quarters compared to 2022.
Top and Bottom 5 Performers
* Arista Networks, Shopify, iFAST and Micro-Mechanics have a larger position size in the portfolio, resulting in a higher absolute gain or loss.
With the exception of Micro-Mechanics, the initial leaders and laggards are growth counters and most are from the US market. It is still early days and their positions are likely to change along the year as they release and update their quarterly results.
iFAST and Micro-Mechanics are among the top 6 positions of my portfolio, so their weaker performances are causing a drag on the portfolio. However, their business outlook might become better in the second half and that could provide a boost to the portfolio by the end of the year.
Coming Up
AGM is coming up and if schedule permits, I would like to attend as many of them as possible. Hearing from the C-Suite directly does have an influence on my investment decision. Thus far I have decided to attend OCBC AGM and watch the live broadcast of Capitaland China Trust AGM. Still on the fence for UOB AGM. May will be the busier month with 7 AGMs and there is likely to be clashes among them.
Another round of results update will also start in late April. After operating for 3 months, there should be greater clarity from the companies on how things are on the ground, and they should have higher visibility of what will transcend for the remaining of the year.
Last year I had two torrid quarters, followed by two flattish ones. It is a good start for this year and I can only hope that there will be more good quarters to come.
Towards Financial Independence 