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.