Saturday, December 03, 2016

Financial Review - November, 2016

November saw asmall 0.77% dip in net assets. Almost all the decrease was attributable to the not-as-good-as-expected result from China Gas, the fall in the India ETF and the fall in the AUD. 

Year to date the portfolio is up 4.51%. The adjusted change from when I retired in September 2013 is an 8.45% increase. Liquidity stands at 38.0 months of estimated outgoings. 

Here are the details:

1. my Hong Kong/China equity portfolio fell slightly. I added some additional shares in HSBC at the end of the month;

2. my AU/NZ equities appreciated slightly. There were no changes to the portfolio this month;

3.my equity ETFs were mixed (India down, Hong Kong and China flat) in line with the local markets;

4. my position in silver fell;

5. all tenants are paying on time. We are at full occupancy. One building is currently subject to a lengthy renovation exercise. My tenant had agreed to tough it out in exchange for a significant discount on the rent (which is better than a lengthy vacancy) but has now given notice expiring at the end of January, 2017. The property will need redecorating before being put back on the market;

6. the NZD was almost unchanged but the AUD fell sharply against the HKD/USD;

7. my position in bonds remains small;

8. expenses were moderate;

9.there were no transfers to Mrs Traineeinvestor;

10. there were no derivative transactions this month.

My cash position fell during the month due to the purchase of shares in HSBC and applying some dividend income towards reducing the balance of a margin loan. I currently hold 38.0 months of expenses in HKD cash or equivalents.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Financial Review - October, 2016

October saw a small 0.30% dip in net assets. Year to date the portfolio is up 5.31%. The adjusted change from when I retired in September 2013 is a 9.2% increase. Liquidity stands at 39.5 months of estimated outgoings. 

Here are the details:

1. my Hong Kong/China equity portfolio fell slightly. There were no trades this month;

2. my AU/NZ equities declined slightly. I added shares in Skellerup (NZX: SKL) to the portfolio. SKL offered a yield above 6% pa which I hope is sustainable over the long run;

3.my equity ETFs were slighly lower (India, Hong Kong and China) in line with the local markets;

4. my position in silver fell slightly;

5. all tenants are paying on time. We are at full occupancy. One building is currently subject to a lengthy renovation exercise. My tenant has agreed to tough it out in exchange for a significant discount on the rent (which is better than a lengthy vacancy);

6. the NZD and the AUD were almost unchanged against the HKD/USD;

7. my position in bonds remains small;

8. expenses were high as I paid for hotel accommodation for our Christmas holiday and air tickets to New Zealand for early in the new year;

9.there were no transfers to Mrs Traineeinvestor;

10. there were no derivative transactions this month.

My cash position fell during the month due to the high expenses. I currently hold 39.5 months of expenses in HKD cash or equivalents.

Saturday, October 01, 2016

Financial Review - September, 2016

September saw a small 0.33% dip in net assets. Year to date the portfolio is up 5.61%. The adjusted change from when I retired in September 2013 is a 9.43% increase. Liquidity stands at 40.1 months of estimated outgoings. 

Here are the details:

1. my Hong Kong/China equity portfolio fell slightly. There were no trades this month;

2. my AU/NZ equities appreciated as a number of companies reported good results and improved dividends. I sold my shares in Chorus (NZX: CNU) for a gain of about 65% over 2.5 years;

3.my equity ETFs were largely unchanged (India, Hong Kong and China) in line with the local markets;

4. my position in silver fell slightly;

5. all tenants are paying on time. We are at full occupancy. One building is currently subject to a lengthy renovation exercise. My tenant has agreed to tough it out in exchange for a significant discount on the rent (which is better than a lengthy vacancy);

6. the NZD and the AUD were almost unchanged against the HKD/USD;

7. my position in bonds remains small but improved after I subscribed for some corporate bonds in May and a perpetual bond this month;

8. expenses were low;

9.there were no transfers to Mrs Traineeinvestor;

10. there were no derivative transactions this month.

My cash position rose during the period due to sales of investments. I currently hold 40.1 months of expenses in HKD cash or equivalents.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Financial Review May, June, July and August

No excuse for not updating in May and June. I was travelling in July and decided not to logon to bank accounts etc from public/hotel wifi to do an update.

May saw net assets fall by 1.16% (briefly putting the portfolio into negative territory for the year to date, June saw a 1.08% recovery and July/August combined produced a 5.18% gain. Year to date the portfolio is up 5.96%. The adjusted change from when I retired in September 2013 is a 9.8% increase. Liquidity stands at 35.56%. 

Here are the details:

1. my Hong Kong/China equity portfolio appreciated in line with local markets. I have sold my shares in Hua Han (HK:587) for a small 4% profit after a a short seller alleged that the company's accounts had been misstated and I have sold my shares in Tibet Water (HK1115) for a 42% profit. Shares in China Dongxiang (HK: 3818) were purchased at HKD1.37;

2. my AU/NZ equities appreciated as a number of companies reported good results and improved dividends. I have added New Zealand Exchange (NZX: NZE) to the portfolio;

3.my equity ETFs rose (India, Hong Kong and China) in line with the local markets;

4. my position in silver appreciated slightly;

5. all tenants are paying on time. We are back to full occupancy after two tenants left. One lease is at the same rent as the previous lease and the other at a small decrease because there was a new building close by with units hitting the market at the same time I was trying to secure a tenant. One building is currently subject to a lengthy renovation exercise. My tenant has agreed to tough it out in exchange for a significant discount on the rent (which is better than a lengthy vacancy);

6. the NZD and the AUD were slightly weaker against the HKD/USD;

7. my position in bonds remains small but improved after I subscribed for some corporate bonds in May;

8. expenses were high with a long summer holiday and university fees hitting the account;

9.there were no transfers to Mrs Traineeinvestor;

10. I purchased an equity linked note which was knocked out after one month for a small profit (I would have been better off buying the underlying shares).
My cash position rose during the period due to sales of investments. I currently hold 35.5 months of expenses in HKD cash or equivalents.

Friday, May 20, 2016

For those contemplating early retirement

This is such a good article about early retirement it's worth revisiting every now and again to get a reminder of the need to keep busy and mentally/socially/physically engaged once you leave the work force.

While everyone is different, for many (including me), planning a degree of structure into my days is a must. Goals matter in part because I didn't retire from my job - I retired to a different lifestyle and to priorities that were different from earning money. I didn't retirees I could sit on my butt watching TV and eating junk food all day.

Philip Greenspun Early Retirement

Monday, May 02, 2016

Financial Review - April, 2016

April saw a modest appreciation in net assets with small gains across all relevant asset classes - enough to tip the portfolio back into positive territory for the year to date.

Here are the details:

1. my Hong Kong/China equity portfolio appreciated slightly;

2. my AU/NZ equities appreciated;

3.my equity ETFs rose slightly (India, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China) in line with the local markets;

4. my position in silver appreciated;

5. all tenants are paying on time. We are back to full occupancy with one tenant agreeing to a small increase in rent for a new lease. One building will be subject to a lengthy renovation exercise. My tenant has agreed to tough it out in exchange for a significant discount on the rent (which is better than a lengthy vacancy);

6. the NZD and the AUD were flat against the HKD/USD;

7. my position in bonds remains small but I have subscribed for some corporate bonds which will appear in the portfolio next month;

8. expenses were high with the cost of a long weekend for the family in Bangkok and the acceptance fee for another degree programme being paid;

9.there were no transfers to Mrs Traineeinvestor.

My cash position fell slightly due to the higher expenses. I currently hold 34.5 months of expenses in HKD cash or equivalents.

For the month the portfolio rose 0.62 percent and the year to date increase in 0.21 percent.

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Financial Review - January, February and March, 2016

Apologies for the lack of updates. No real excuse - just giving priority to other matters like getting my novel "finished" and sent a professional copy editor.

January was a terrible start to the year with the portfolio down by 5.84%. February saw a small recovery of 0.35% and March a much stronger 5.11% increase. For the year to date, I am down 0.4%, which is less than difference between expenses and my part time income.

Here are the details:

1. my Hong Kong/China equity portfolio is still below where it was at the beginning of the year. I have added shares in HSBC (HK:5), Swire Pacific (HK:19) and Rosedale Hotels (HK:1189) and sold my shares in Herald Holdings (HK:114);

2. my AU/NZ equities appreciated. I purchased additional shares in Fletcher Building (NZX: FBU);

3.my equity ETFs fell slightly (India, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China) in line with the local markets. I sold my interests in the Vietnam ETF at a loss;

4. my commodities are about flat for the year. Silver is my only position;

5. all tenants are paying on time. We are back to full occupancy with one tenant agreeing to a small increase in rent for a new lease. The US rate rise has had no impact on Hong Kong mortgage rates;

6. the NZD and the AUD are currently flat against the HKD/USD;

7. my position in bonds remains small;

8. expenses were moderate for the first three months of the year. I expect expenses to be higher with high travel expenses in July and December and, possibly, some tuition fees starting later in the year;

9.there were no transfers to Mrs Traineeinvestor.

My cash position improved slightly due to low expenses. I currently hold 35.0 months of expenses in HKD cash or equivalents. 

Saturday, January 23, 2016

2016 - Moving forward

2016 has the potential to be an interesting year, but don't they all?

Finances: From a financial perspective, the main object remains unchanged: to ensure that we can maintain our current lifestyle without returning to the workforce indefinitely. I recently did a review and even supposing a modest drop in dividend and rental income, the recent declines in share prices and Hong Kong property values have not threatened our retirement. From a cash flow perspective, we are slightly negative (looking at only the Hong Kong based assets) until May 2021 when the mortgage on our home is paid off. However:


  1. the deficit is covered twice over by Hong Kong cash on hand;
  2. can be reduced by shifting investments into higher yielding securities; can be reduced by investing the excess cash;
  3. will shrink a bit when the mortgage on one of our investment properties is paid off in June 2018; and
  4. has a partial backstop of in the form of income from assets held outside Hong Kong.
I will make a few changes to the portfolio over the next few weeks (one has been done already) to boost income a little and, give current equity valuations, will probably deploy some of the excess cash as well.

In short, our finances are fine.

Writing: After a multi-year delay, the novel is almost ready to be sent to a copy editor by the end of the month, after which it will be self-published as an e-book and available by print on demand. I may try to sell it to publishers but am not optimistic given that I know that much better writers than me have been unsuccessful in securing a publishing contract. Regardless, after four (?) years it feels great to be able to say that I have (almost) written a full length novel. I also have a rough outline + character sketches for the main characters so my second writing objective is to write a substantial amount of the second novel and be in a position to self publish by the end of 2017.

Fitness: I am starting the year in good shape. I finished the Hong Kong marathon in a slow time and (so far) appear to be injury free. Subject to getting in trough the lottery, I have signed up with a team for the Hong Kong Trailwalker (target time is 30 hours but I hope that will come down to closer to 24 hours if all goes well).

Other: I intend to continue with both my part time job (interesting and a little extra cash is always welcome) and the current volunteer activities (interesting and it's nice to give something back) but have no plans to expand either as that would (i) intrude on other activities and (ii) feel too much like work. The more substantial other is the possibility of doing another degree - I enjoyed the MFA experience a lot and, among other things, it left me with an interest in literary theory. The issue is that the application deadlines for 2016 start have been and gone so I would probably not be able to start anything until September 2017 which seem like a long time to wait. Also, I would want to do either a research degree or a part time degree which narrows the options considerably.

2015 Annual Review

2015 was, in many respects, a memorable year.

The financials started the year with a bang but then deteriorated rapidly as equity markets tanked, HK property prices retreated from their high water marks and the AUD/NZD deteriorated. In spite of which, household net worth rose 0.19 percent for the year. Obviously, the first few weeks of 2016 have seen a significant reduction in asset values and I will be looking at the impact on my retirement funding shortly.

A potentially serious health issue which arose in October 2014 was "finally" resolved in May 2015 (subject to six monthly check ups for the indefinite future). Fortunately the medical insurance offered through Generalli was excellent and covered most of the costs. Not so fortunately, the side effects of the medication did a hatchet job on my fitness and the distraction of researching the medical issues delayed work on other projects. Happily, all that is now six months behind me and I need a new excuse for my continued procrastination.

I completed my master's degree mid-year with distinction (the highest classification for a part-time degree) and a minor academic award for one of the papers I wrote. This was a great experience and, in some ways, it was disappointing that it came to an end.

The novel was not finished. While I can blame my medical issue in part, the more substantive reason was that the MFA experience motivated me to substantially redraft luge chunks of the novel. In any event, it is going to a copy editor by the end of January and (hopefully) will be self published sometime in April or May.

My fitness deteriorated a lot during the first half of the year but picked up once I was off the medication to the point where I was able to amble around the HK marathon last weekend (in a very slow time - even by my very slow standards) and am very happy to be back into it.

My (very) part time job and volunteer activities went as expected and I have no plans to change either of those at this stage.

Saturday, January 02, 2016

Financial Review - November and December, 2015

November resulted in a small loss and December in a small gain in net worth, in both cases largely as a result of fluctuations in equity markets.

Here are the details:

1. my Hong Kong/China equity portfolio fell in both November and December;

2. my AU/NZ equities appreciated moderately. I sold my shares in Nufarm (ASX:NUF) and purchased shares in Lend Lease (ASX: LLC);

3.my equity ETFs fell slightly (India, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China) in line with the local markets. There were no new purchases;

4. my commodities fell slightly. Silver is my only position;

5. all tenants are paying on time. We are back to full occupancy. The US rate rise has had no impact on Hong Kong mortgage rates;

6. currency movements were positive with the NZD and the AUD rising against the HKD/USD;

7. my position in bonds remains small;

8. expenses were moderate with a small holiday and some tax bills (all provided for) making an impact in cash flow;

9.there were no transfers to Mrs Traineeinvestor this month.

My cash position improved due to a lot of dividends being paid in November and December. I currently hold 34.8 months of expenses in HKD cash or equivalents. 

For November, my net worth fell by 0.98%.  For December it increased by 0.25%. The year to date decrease is 2.14%. FWIW, the amount of the decrease is slightly less than my expenditure for the year (excluding principle component of our home mortgage).

In once sense, it is disappointing to end the year with a loss. However, the fact that incurring a loss did not impact my retirement and only impacted my "if I ever made a lot of money wish list" was reassuring.

Full year end wrap-up on the household balance sheet will be done once a few stray numbers come in.