2025 Annual Update
Portfolio and performance review
Happy New Year everyone! Here’s the usual annual update containing my past results and current portfolio (so you can see where my conviction actually lies!).
Following year end, I’ve been particularly conscious of the stellar returns being posted by other investors, alongside an unusually buoyant stock market. Most of the time learning in public is great, but it can also feel lonely when you’re not leading the pack.
As far as Overlooked and Undervalued goes, I’m still enjoying the journey. I’m slightly below my stated aim of achieving double digit annualised returns (without compromising on downside protection). Yet, I’m staying open minded, continuing to learn, and focusing on my investment process.
Roll on 2026! I wish you all a happy and enjoyable year….
My strategy aims for double digit annualised returns - alongside a low probability of permanent capital loss.
There are five investment principles:
Performance in any single year is unimportant - compounding takes time.
Counter cyclical. A buyer in times of financial panic, otherwise patient.
Run towards the overlooked, the odd, the illiquid, the small, and the unpopular.
Survival trumps being/looking smart.
Simplicity. Everything else on the too hard pile.
(If you’re interested to learn more, please read this post on The ‘Over and Under’ Philosophy)
Points to note:
Results are loosely compared against two ETFs. FTAL representing the UK All Share Index, and SSAC representing the All Country World Index.
Portfolio inception was the 1st January 2021 - when I began managing this strategy full time. My prior results were 22.9% in 2020, 2.0% in 2019, 1.9% in 2018, and 13.0% in 2017.
This is the only strategy I manage and it contains a material portion of my family’s investable assets.
The base currency is GBP.
thx for the summary, looking forward to specifics for 2026.
wondering if anyone has a solution for datawrapper graphs not saving\printing to pdf?