Here's to the Eighties!

Typewriter, Schreibmaschine by Frank Jakobi

A couple of days ago I made a new milestone by getting a new first digit for my portfolio. On Monday the 7th of November, I recorded, for the first time ever, a portfolio value over 80k euros or 80 035 euros to be exact.

This is only 164 days after making my previous milestone of 70k back in May. What? That's less than half a year which leaves me a bit surprised actually but this is a surprise I'm quite happy to handle.

I didn't record an exact portfolio breakdown on Monday so I'll do that here now. Donald Trump just won the presidency yesterday on Wednesday and there's an ongoing market rally which may inflate these numbers a bit.

	29.05.2016	10.11.2016	change
Savings account	7101	5043	-2058
Passive funds, broad	22325	26698	+4373
Passive funds, niches	7089	8411	+1322
Actively managed funds	5310	6579	+1269
Listed stocks	19286	24954	+5668
Unlisted stocks	5250	5250	0
Fixed income	100	100	0
Cash	3700	4258	+558
Total	70161	81293	+11132

From the portfolio breakdown it's easy to see that since May, I have been buying quite many individual stocks. Should perhaps limit that because I do believe the market to be at least somewhat efficient and that passive funds are likelier winners over the long term.

Also, my net worth also just made 6 figures and is currently at around 101k. However, I don't really pay much attention to my net worth as my apartment is my only noteworthy asset outside of my portfolio and I couldn't really sell my apartment for as long as I wan't to live in it. Further, I consider my apartment perhaps more as a liability than an asset, so I'll just stick to focusing on my investment portfolio.

Anyways, next stop: the nineties! :)

The struggle with style

Figure hunched by David Rosen

I'm struggling to some extent with my investing style. I can't make up my mind on what my style actually is.

The thing is, every investment guru out there has a different style, and they all think, or at least say, that their style is the best and "you should do it like this also!". There's indexers and stock pickers. Technical analysis and fundamental analysis and quantitative methods. Value and growth and dividend investors. Market timers and dollar-cost-averagers. Event waiters, contrarians, patient money and traders. Allocators and robo-advisors. And so on.

And many of the gurus make a compelling case for their particular style of investing. I have not locked down a single style for myself but my portfolio is more of a collection of different approaches. A more cordial person could call it a "core and satellites" method. Someone less eloquent might call it a mess.

Some time ago, maybe two years back, I wrote a short investment plan for myself but haven't really looked at it since. I should probably return to the subject and try to define my methodology better. And then stick to it ;P

I recently came across a brilliant interview by Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's "wing man" for decades. I hope I'll some day reach the same level of clarity :) The whole interview is pure gold but his and Warren's investing style is described at 5:58.

His four criteria are such gold I'll add a transcript of what he says here:

"1. We have to deal in things that we’re capable of understanding,
2. Once we’re over that filter, we have to have a business with some intrinsic characteristics that give it a durable competitive advantage,
3. Then of course, we would vastly prefer a management in place with a lot of integrity and talent,
4. And finally, no matter how wonderful it is, it’s not worth an infinite price. So we have to have a price that makes sense and gives a margin of safety, given the natural vicissitudes of life.
That’s a very simple set of ideas."