2022 Review – Worst Year to date, -10% / -34%

So time for my usual review of the year. As ever, I’m not writing this exactly at the end of the year so figures may be a bit fuzzy, in general they are pretty accurate.

As expected, it hasn’t been a good one. If you assume all my MOEX stocks are worth 0 I am down 34%, if you take the MOEX stocks at their current value I am down c10%. This is very rough, I also have various GDR’s and a reasonable weight in JEMA – formerly JP Morgan Russian. So if all Russian stocks are a 0 you can probably knock another 3-5% off.

My traditional charts / table are below – including figures *roughly* assuming Russian holdings are worth 0. It’s a little more complex than this as there are pretty substantial dividends in a blocked account in Russia and quite a few GDR’s valued at nominal values, I could easily be up 10-20% if you assume the world goes back to ‘normal’ and my assets are not seized, although at present this seems a distant prospect.

H1 2021 Review / Portfolio +13.8%

Thought I would do a review of where the portfolio stands.

As at end June I am +13.8% for the year, roughly matching the FTSE AS at c12%. it has been far more volatile than is usual, pre-fed comments on tightening sooner than the market expected, I was up closer to 20%. The volatility is driven by the large exposure to natural resource co’s and volatility resulting from their underlying commodity feeding through to share prices, which are, in turn, even more volatile.

Steppe Cement $STCM – Kazakh Cement Company

I put a position on in this a couple of weeks ago @33p, its risen strongly since but is still a buy at 40p. Its a neat little company which hasn’t been widely covered (as far as I am aware). It has a healthy 6-8% yield. Pretty much all earnings are paid as a dividend. Its trading just above book value. My current position is a 3.5% portfolio weight, which feels a touch light. I am still adjusting to growth in the size of my portfolio and don’t want to be too heavy in illiquid stock, I may well add in time as this plays out.