On the gathering tide of darkness ride
The argosies of the sky,
And spangle the night with their sails of light
As the streaming star goes by.
J.R.R Tolkien The Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star
This is my one hundred and thirteenth monthly portfolio update. I complete this regular update to check progress against my goal.
Portfolio goal
My objective is to maintain a portfolio of at least $3,250,000. This should be capable of producing an annual income from total portfolio returns of about $112,000 (in 2026 dollars).
This portfolio objective is based on an assumed safe withdrawal rate of 3.45 per cent.
A secondary focus will be maintaining the minimum equity target of $2,600,000.
Portfolio summary
| Vanguard Lifestrategy High Growth Fund | $970,555 |
| Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund | $48,659 |
| Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund | $83,390 |
| Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund | $91,304 |
| Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS) | $657,749 |
| Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS) | $1,016,641 |
| Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200) | $337,076 |
| Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX) | $285,330 |
| Bitcoin | $1,180,875 |
| Plenti Capital Notes | $84,000 |
| Financial portfolio value (excluding Bitcoin) | $3,574,074 (+$103,919) |
| Total portfolio value | $4,755,579 (+$188,076) |
Asset allocation
| Australian shares | 29.0% |
| Global shares | 30.6% |
| Emerging market shares | 1.1% |
| International small companies | 1.3% |
| Total international shares | 33.1% |
| Total shares | 62.0% (-18.0%) |
| Australian bonds | 2.7% |
| International bonds | 3.6% |
| Total bonds | 6.3% (+1.3%) |
| Gold | 6.0% |
| Bitcoin | 24.8% |
| Gold and alternatives | 30.8% (+15.8%) |
Presented visually, the pie chart below is a high-level view of the current asset allocation of the full portfolio.
Comments
This past month the portfolio rebounded from the previous losses, expanding by $188,000 or around 4.1 per cent.
As a result a five month downward trend in the overall portfolio value was broken. From the perspective of the financial portfolio, movements through April partly reversed about half of the losses of the prior month.
This leaves the financial portfolio within around two per cent of its highest ever value, despite the ongoing elevated levels of geopolitical instability.
In sharp contrast, the full portfolio has only just returned to levels first reached in late 2024, due to prolonged falls in the price of Bitcoin.
The chart below sets out the performance of both the full and ‘financial assets only’ portfolios since the commencement of the journey.
Driving the strong performance this month has been a rebounding in global equity markets, of around 5.2 per cent, as well as growth in the price of Bitcoin (7.7 per cent), after significant falls over the past six months.
Australian equities continued to deliver small positive returns, with capital appreciation of around 1.1 per cent and payments of quarterly income of around 1.0 per cent.
The general economic picture over the medium-term is clouded by uncertainty over the full impacts of closure of the Straits of Hormuz, and the flow on ramifications to global supply chains, liquid fuels, and prices. It is possible that even as equity markets provide broadly positive signals, the effects of the crisis will persist and cascade through everyday markets and consumer experiences for months or years ahead.
Gold holdings drifted lower by around 4.5 per cent per cent, continuing a retreat since the end of January.
The month as previously small additional new investments were made in global equities (through the Vanguard exchange traded fund VGS), in accordance with the decision to regularly reinvest excess distributions and cash holdings.
Weather margin: the role and effects of currency exposure on the portfolio
One of the less visible elements of portfolio performance over time, which has an increasing absolute dollar impact on portfolio performance as the portfolio grows, is the effect of currency exposures.
Continue reading “Monthly Portfolio Update – April 2026”