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.

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.

Financial Review - October, 2015

October showed a partial recovery of the year's losses with equities moving higher, FX movements being favourable and positive cash flow from the rental properties.

Here are the details:

1. my Hong Kong/China equity portfolio appreciated. I added more shares in COSCO Pacific (HK:1199) through a dividend reinvestment plan (even though the shares have been suspended for some time);

2. my AU/NZ equities appreciated moderately. There were no new purchases;

3.my equity ETFs appreciated (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 and negotiated a rent increase on one property;

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 as we have now finished paying for renovations and moving expenses;

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

My cash position improved due to a lot of dividends being paid in October. I currently hold 34.3 months of expenses in HKD cash or equivalents. 

For October, my net worth appreciated by 4.74%.  The year to date decrease is 1.40%.