Monthly purchase and this time around it was once again EPR properties. I bought additional 20 shares for 72,30 USD pershare. Nothing much to say about this as I’ve been building this position for a while now. This position could now be considered full or one purchase shy from it as my REIT exposure tends to be on the high side already. This purchase was also partially dividend re-investment action as I try to make at least one purchase per month on both porfolios.
Short term watch list going forward could include various kinds of stocks such as CapMan, AbbVie, Barrick Gold, Freeport-McMoRan and Brookfield Renewable Partners. CapMan is a bit tricky one as dividend ex-div is getting close and they reported excellent results today so valuation tends to be on the high side for short term. On the other hand it’s a full position in the making so I just might have to keep building it in steady manner. I’m also looking for additional euro stocks to host in Nordea which doesn’t provide currency accounts (and dividend income in other currencies would include conversion costs there).
Minor maintenance with a swap of Loudspring for CapMan Plc. Sold the tiny position that consisted of 550 Loudspring shares for 0,338 EUR per share and bought additional 110 CapMan shares for 2,315 EUR per share. This was mainly done because I have some indirect exposure for Loudspring even without this and it’s very likely that I have plenty of time to jump back in should there be significant change on the outlook. Essentially this is is streamlining effort which helps on the process of building a real position on CapMan.
Another eventful year has passed. Global economy had some major setbacks such as the trade war, approaching US presidential elections with the internal issues that comes with it, the ever ongoing BREXIT saga and loads of smaller issues which I’m sure the middle east region will provide us for many years to come. Then there’s the situation with central banks and interest rates. Considering all this it’s really mind blowing to think how well stocks have performed. Portfolio value is really a secondary metric for me but primary portfolio value increased about 28% this year. This is somewhat in-line with index performance but this being an income oriented portfolio, unrealised capital gains are secondary but nice to have of course.
FY2019 Portfolio Value
During FY2019 I re-arranged my personal finances and paid of my mortgage. For me this constitutes as the first step of three in the path to financial independence as it reduces significantly the required income for mandatory monthly expenses. In retrospect I probably should’n have sold some of the stocks for this (looking at Apple Inc. especially which has rallied since then) but these investments are done for a purpose and those realised profits filled their purpose in bigger picture. No hard feelings there especially since I very well realised that this could be exactly the outcome even for the Apple share.
Dividend income for FY2019 increased quite nicely compared to previous year. This happened even though I was not buying as aggressively as in year before due to decreased leverage on the portfolio. There were some one time extra dividends (BHP Billiton) and some negative news for next year as some of key positions will decrease the dividends next year (Nordea, Sampo). For FY2020 I expect consistent cash injections and full dividend re-investments which should offset those negatives and keep dividend growth trend in same trajectory. For FY2019 the total dividend income before taxes and converted to euros was 6769 EUR.
In the spirit of traditional new year’s resolutions I’ve set following goals for 2020:
Personal savings rate of 70%
Second step on the path to financial independence: passive income covers base consumption
12 months without alcoholic beverages
Protecting effective tax rate (offset increased taxes with tax planning)
