Time is the wisest counsellor of all.
Pericles
This is my eighty-third monthly portfolio update. I complete this regular update to check progress against my goal.
Portfolio goal
My objective is to achieve and maintain a portfolio of at least $2,750,000 by 31 December 2024 or earlier. This should be capable of producing an annual income from total portfolio returns of about $94,800 (in 2023 dollars).
This portfolio objective is based on an assumed safe withdrawal rate of 3.45 per cent.
A secondary focus will be achieving the minimum equity target of $2,200,000.
Portfolio summary
| Vanguard Lifestrategy High Growth Fund | $724,110 |
| Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund | $38,118 |
| Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund | $69,131 |
| Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund | $84,578 |
| Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS) | $420,542 |
| Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS) | $578,045 |
| Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200) | $262,175 |
| Telstra shares (TLS) | $2,030 |
| Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG) | $7,183 |
| NIB Holdings shares (NHF) | $8,688 |
| Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX) | $141,183 |
| Secured physical gold | $22,310 |
| Bitcoin | $600,385 |
| Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio) | $20,107 |
| Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio) | $3,347 |
| BrickX (P2P rental real estate) | $4,431 |
| Plenti Capital Notes Market Loan | $5,000 |
| Total portfolio value | $2,991,363 (+$105,860) |
Asset allocation
| Australian shares | 33.6% |
| Global shares | 30.7% |
| Emerging market shares | 1.3% |
| International small companies | 1.7% |
| Total international shares | 33.7% |
| Total shares | 67.3% (-12.7%) |
| Total property securities | 0.1% (+0.1%) |
| Australian bonds | 2.2% |
| International bonds | 4.8% |
| Total bonds | 7.0% (+2.0%) |
| Gold | 5.5% |
| Bitcoin | 20.1% |
| Gold and alternatives | 25.5% (+10.5%) |
Presented visually, the pie chart below is a high-level view of the current asset allocation of the portfolio.
Comments
The portfolio increased in value by around $105,000 through this month, pushing it to its highest level since late 2021.
This move represented a 3.7 per cent increase in its value, more than offsetting losses through the last two months.
The different segments of the portfolio sharply diverged across the month, as higher inflation outcomes in Australia and yield increases in government bond markets globally challenged the comparative value and outlook for equities.
The equity portfolio suffered sharp losses in its domestic component, down around 3.3 per cent after accounting for dividends being distributed. In the case of international shares the losses approached 2.7 per cent, cushioned by a weaker currency performance on the part of the Australian dollar.
Continue reading “Monthly Portfolio Report – October 2023”