Last year was a
lousy year for a lousy reason … and that reason is part of why it
took me almost four weeks into this month to get this post written.
My wife/partner of 22 years was diagnosed with advanced cancer in
2014 and suffice it to say that helping and supporting her took
precedence for the last third of the year as she went through
surgery, radiation, and chemo. For the last three months of the year,
I wrote fewer pieces in each month than I typically do in two or
three days, so you can imagine how much time I was spending paying
close attention to the markets.
Anyways, on with
the show...
I maintain two
separate portfolios (“A” and “B”). Portfolio A is supposed to
be a more actively managed portfolio with a greater focus on
year-to-year returns. Portfolio B is supposed to be more about
long-term opportunities; I don't care so much about the year-to-year
performance of holdings so much as the potential/performance over
three or more years.
Portfolio
A did okay in 2014, beating the S&P 500 and Russell 3000 but
lagging the Nasdaq. The biggest positive contributors were Alnylam
(ALNY) and Neurocrine Biosciences
(NBIX), followed by Multi-Color
(LABL). Hurco (HURC)
and the Wright Medical Group CVRs
(WMGIZ) both did well but make up a relatively small part of the
assets. ABB (ABB),
First Cash Financial (FCFS) and
FEMSA (FMX) were the
biggest drags on performance; Cameron
(CAM), Lundbeck
(HLUYY), Weatherford
(WFT), and Ultratech
(UTEK) were all laggards, but less meaningful given their smaller
allocation.
Portfolio
B was a total mess, lagging all of the indexes I care about and doing
just generally rotten on its own. I suppose I could blame some of it
on a lack of attention in the last third of the year, but the numbers
are what they are. Alnylam, Broadcom
(BRCM), and EMC (EMC)
were the most meaningful positive contributors, while Statoil
(STO), Triangle Petroleum
(TPLM), and FEMSA were the biggest losers in the mix.
On a combined
basis, the results weren't nearly good enough. The three-year and
five-year numbers are still decent, but hopefully I can get back to
the sort of performance I expect on a year-in/year-out basis.
2014 Returns
Portfolio A: +14.2%
Portfolio B: +
11.5%
Combined Portfolios: +13.53%
S&P 500: +13.69%
Nasdaq: +
14.75%
Russell 3000: +
12.56%
Three-Year Returns (annualized)
Portfolio A:
+24.1%
Portfolio B: +16.9%
Combined Portfolios: +21.3%
S&P 500:
+20.4%Nasdaq: +23.6%Russell
3000: +20.5%
No comments:
Post a Comment