The first half of 2024 was positive overall. The strategy returned 22%, beating the 12% return of the MSCI World index by 10 percentage points.
I am content with this result. My investing style, Value, has been out of favour this year. Value stocks ($VTV) have returned 9%, Growth stocks ($VUG) 21%. To return 22% despite a style headwind is acceptable.
In the last month the portfolio fell 7%. International value stocks fell 5%, so the performance was not way out of line with the part of the market the portfolio is invested in. Performance would have been much better if I had invested in Tech or Growth, but those are not my areas.
Today French election results are boosting the market. I am not quite ready to declare the all clear yet. If anything I am becoming more concerned about the market in 2025. Donald Trump’s chances of winning the US presidential election are rising. If Republicans end up controlling both the presidency and Congress, the US budget deficit could widen, interest rates will probably increase, and a market downturn will result.
For the time being, though, it is unclear when the market will start to focus on US budget deficits. There is a window of about 6 months, the second half of this year, when the currently strong economy could remain the main focus and stocks could rally further. I do believe that the US market is overvalued and when the recession finally arrives, stocks will fall substantially.
The plan is to maintain balanced exposure to the market and perhaps reduce the risk level of the portfolio at some point during H2 to prepare for a market downturn in 2025.
2024 performance
@triangulacapital +21.8%
$SWDA.L +11.8%
Portfolio changes
ISS and Stellantis were sold following negative news flow about the companies. They were replaced by Cellnex and Vonovia.