Welcome to my August 2023 Portfolio Report.
My stock portfolio gained value by £79.22 (+0.3%) across the month of August 2023. This figure excludes the benefit of any additional deposits made and focuses solely on return achieved on existing capital.
£600.00 additional deposits were pumped into the fund this month, £0.00 worth of stocks were sold, with £0.00 of total capital being invested into additional holdings. £49.18 in additional deposits were made due to income from dividends being transferred into the capital account. The additional deposits and dividend income minus the capital difference invested and account fees has therefore led to a increase in the capital held on deposit which has risen from £244.32 to £890.72
Capital held on deposit now sits at 3.1% of the value of the fund.
The total value of the fund, along with the cash held on deposit sits at £28,395.92
2023 Performance
On 1st January 2023 the account sat at a value of £22,630.27. Since then I’ve pumped in a further £2,165 into the fund. Today’s value of £28,395.92 minus the £2,165 additional deposits, means that I’ve made an investment return of £3,600.65 so far this year which represents +15.9% gain in value for the year so far.
My Thoughts
The portfolio achieved a +0.3% rise in value for August 2023. In comparison, the FTSE 250 fell by about -2.8% for the month. We are also well ahead for the year being up +15.9% versus the 250 which itself still sits at -2.8% for the year to date.
I’ve had several non-members contact me over August wanting to discuss joining the membership as they were particularly dismayed by the performance of their portfolio in July when my fund grew substantially. August has demonstrated yet again that individual stocks can make all the difference, as the 4 consecutive weeks of price rises which led to an overall +17% rise in one of my positions played a big part in keeping the portfolio value level when other prices had dropped.
I also managed to pump a sizable amount of capital into the portfolio this month, although this has no impact on the % return for the month as it is omitted from any return calculations. However, the small rise combined with the additional deposits has led to the portfolio value reaching a record high £28,395. Higher than the peak achieved in Dec 2021 just before the 2022 bear market began when the portfolio value reached its previous high of £28,192.
This month was also a good example of how unnecessary it is to be ‘price-watching’ the markets. Most of you will know I was away all August spending time with my kids. Other than the weekend watchlist reports that I kept up with, I did no other work. I had no ear to the ground and had very little awareness of what prices had been doing. I didn’t care, because at the time I wasn’t a buyer. And so there was no need to be checking prices. The market did what the market was going to do, and I just checked in today to see how things went. At the start of the month it looked like prices fell, then picked up towards the end. Some members are reporting slight losses for the month. I’m reporting a slight increase, so slight, it’s almost barely worth mentioning.
Only another 240 more months to go before I’ll start genuinely caring what the value of my portfolio is worth. Until then, I’ll keep buying more shares and growing the thing.
Portfolio
| SHARES | STOCK | COST (£) | MARKET (£) | GAIN (£) | GAIN (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | STOCK 1 | 877.62 | 1,165.20 | 287.58 | 32.76 |
| 1073 | STOCK 4 | 6,580.91 | 7,940.20 | 1,359.29 | 20.65 |
| 30 | STOCK 23 | 493.50 | 940.20 | 446.70 | 90.52 |
| 51 | STOCK 2 | 1,028.30 | 1,093.44 | 65.14 | 6.33 |
| 1902 | STOCK 25 | 2,584.60 | 2,168.28 | -416.32 | -16.11 |
| 1312 | STOCK 29 | 2,650.31 | 2,191.04 | -459.27 | -17.32 |
| 35 | STOCK 16 | 501.53 | 616.00 | 114.47 | 22.82 |
| 1505 | STOCK 32 | 1,269.04 | 1,279.25 | 10.21 | 0.80 |
| 110 | STOCK 34 | 1,557.70 | 1,445.40 | -112.30 | -7.21 |
| 13 | STOCK 17 | 248.05 | 718.12 | 470.07 | 189.51 |
| 2619 | STOCK 43 | 599.64 | 680.94 | 81.30 | 13.56 |
| 138 | STOCK 39 | 249.26 | 327.06 | 77.80 | 31.21 |
| 109 | STOCK 49 | 409.80 | 232.17 | -177.63 | -43.34 |
| 304 | STOCK 55 | 1,048.02 | 234.08 | -813.94 | -77.64 |
| 154 | STOCK 33 | 3,900.22 | 3,834.60 | -65.62 | -1.68 |
| 50 | STOCK 24 | 800.20 | 325.00 | -475.20 | -59.38 |
| 26 | STOCK 45 | 491.34 | 641.16 | 149.82 | 30.49 |
| 398 | STOCK 56 | 521.08 | 624.86 | 103.78 | 19.91 |
| 15 | STOCK 57 | 1,029.91 | 1,048.20 | 18.29 | 1.77 |
| TOTAL | 26,841.21 | 27,505.20 | 663.99 | 2.47 | |
| CASH | 890.72 | ||||
| TOTAL PORTFOLIO VALUE | 28,395.92 |
Dividend History
£49.18 was received this month in dividends and re-invested into the fund.
I have received a total of £623.25 in dividends so far for 2023 which is an average passive income of approximately £78 a month.
At the start of the year I explained I was hoping for a 2.5% yield from my account each year which would have amounted to £625 in 2023. So I have therefore achieved this already with 4 months left to go which is very pleasing. By this time last year I had received £523.98 in dividends, so I am now well ahead on 2022’s dividend payouts at this stage suggesting I may witness my first +£1000 yearly dividend income which would be a welcome milestone.
2022 Dividend Income = £836.58
2021 Dividend Income = £681.58
2020 Dividend Income = £107.75
Historical Performance Tracker
My goal is to reach £1,024,864 in account value within 23 years from the start of this project. I plan to get there by achieving an average annual return of 15% from my stock picks and an additional average 2.5% annual dividend yield which will be re-invested into the fund for compounded growth. This also assumes a £250/month cash input to aid growth.
My financial forecasts suggest that to stay on track and reach my goal I must finish 2022 on £19,169. By the end of 2023 I needed to be on £26,132.
However, the value of my fund has already reached over £28,000 at this stage. As a result I am approximately a year ahead of schedule of reaching my target of £1,024,864 by 2042, which gives me plenty of room should I suffer 1-2 poorer years along the way like we saw in 2022. However, my projections are already based on conversative returns, obtained from historical performance. I am therefore left in no doubt that I will make my target far sooner than planned. Initial projections suggested I would reach my end target aged 61. However, current projections now suggest the milestone will be reached by the age of 59. I hope to get there before I hit 55.
Join Me On My Journey
I hope you continue to join me for this rollercoaster ride across 2023 and our forthcoming years of financial growth. I sincerely hope to one day be able to meet some members in person and bask in each others stories of success. Nothing will please me more than for my hours and hours of analysis to have had significant positive impacts on peoples financial lives and welbeing. This is an incredible journey, growing a starter portfolio of £4k to £1 million. It will take best part of 20-25 years to achieve.
However, I hope these monthly reports then become a roadmap of sorts that future generations can take. I certainly intend for my children to take on the baton and continue running with it long after I’m gone. For me, this is a the start of the Chillingworth legacy. Whilst I started in my 30’s with less than £10k, my children will start in their 20’s with perhaps £100k each. Their children may start with a million each. Their children could eventually be billionaires. Whilst I won’t be around to witness it, I’d be happy knowing I came into and then left this world having made a positive impact to my family in this way.
The Podcast
If you haven’t yet checked out the Diary of a UK Stock Investor Podcast, you can do so by going to the Podcast page which provides all the links you’ll need to tune in. The Diary of a UK Stock Investor Podcast is a show for everyday retail investors. With a new episode every Thursday, we focus on successful investing in UK stocks discussing education, strategy, mindset, ideas and even stock picks and analysis. The show is curated by Chris Chillingworth, a UK investor for some 9 years whose stock picks have achieved a 16.8% annual average return between Jan 2014 – Jan 2023.