November portfolio update

Since the last update, which covered the month of August, my portfolio and the broader market have both delivered strong returns. My portfolio gained 0.26% in September, 3.54% in October and 7.98% in November, for a total gain of 12.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 Franking Credit Adjusted Total Return Index (Tax-Exempt) meanwhile returned -3.66% in September, 1.93% in October and 10.21% in November, for a total gain of 8.22%.

My returns over the three months were largely driven by Naked Wines and one of my newer Japanese stocks, Joban Kaihatsu. When I bought Joban in late July, it was selling at a bargain price compared to both its asset value and recent earnings. It wasn't just me who noticed: around the same time, management started working on a MBO plan, which culminated in a 7,800Y per share offer in November. The price is extremely opportunistic, considering it's below the company's net asset value, which is comprised of largely of cash and marketable investments. Consequently, the stock was bid up substantially above the offer. I may have left some money on the table, but I decided to sell my holding at 9000Y in mid-November, about 70% above the price I paid. 

It will be interesting to see what happens with the bid. Japanese takeovers are not an area of expertise for me, and in this case all of the documents are in Japanese, which presents an additional challenge.

Besides Joban, I also sold some smaller, lower-conviction positions. With the proceeds, I added to some existing positions and bought three new names: Shinoken (8909.T), Analogue Holdings (1977.HK) and ScS Group PLC (SCS.LON). Shinoken and Analogue Holdings both trade on single digit P/Es, with solid asset backing and strong track records of growth. ScS Group trades at a low multiple of normalised earnings, has a strong business model and cash in excess of its market cap on its balance sheet.

The portfolio is still very cheap so I'm sleeping well despite the froth in the market of late.

Finally, you may have noticed I haven't been updating the blog as much as usual. I've recently moved, and have been busy with work. On top of that, there hasn't been too much to write about lately. I plan to write an end of year post in early January, and I'll re-assess posting frequency after that.

My results since inception are summarised in the table below. 

Please note that my returns are pre-tax, include franking credits, and assume dividends are reinvested. These figures have not been audited. Additionally, I do not account for cash in the portfolio. The net result is that my performance is likely somewhat overstated, although I tend to be fully invested. The SPAX2F0 is simply the pre-tax total return of the S&P ASX200 Accumulation Index adjusted to include any franking credits received. I have unitised my portfolio to assist in calculating performance. 

	August 3, 2017	November 30, 2020	Since July 1, 2020	Since Inception	Annualised
G&W Portfolio	1.0000	1.7649	14.53%	76.49%	18.61%
Benchmark (SPAX2F0)	61,250.80	82,914.52	13.28%	35.37%	9.52%