With this said, today is a day to review my portfolio decisions over the course of 2016.
2016 Portfolio Review
Truth be told, 2016 was a tough year for my portfolio. A blend of hesitance and unexpected global events really threw the needle off and I needed to bite the bullet and flip allocations quickly, sometimes in unfavorable moments.
Transitioning into a dividend yielding portfolio in 2016's environment might have been one of the better decisions I have made for my personal investments. I say this because it was a huge learning point - it helped me to realize the importance of being decisive and consistent in my investment strategy. In a nutshell, I had a view, but out of self-doubt I wasn't following it religiously.
At some point in the first half of the year, I had to tell myself, something needs to be done about my portfolio. I did my research, created a portfolio, and dropped a couple of articles on the topic as some of you may remember (click here and here to see them). Looking back now, doing some due diligence and making the switch really helped to generate a good amount of passive income throughout the year as markets swung back and forth.
The Dividend's in the Details
As you can see below, dividends have been more or less consistently coming in since May, even though the values differed widely (largely due to the financial calendar). But this doesn't matter much in any case; what's more important is the total and the average we earn per month right!
Actual values omitted because I don't want everyone to realize that I'm only talking in single digits haha.
Aside from any currently unrealized marked to market P/L, my current dividend yield is sitting tight slightly north of 8%, which gives a good amount of breathing room for whatever
What's next?
In the meantime, I will be sourcing for new positions to take, but albeit now with a little more hindrance due to corporate conflict-of-interest-prevention barriers.
However, caution is a necessity. The FED has generally raised interest rates when the economy picks up to prevent any overheating in the past, and this used to signal that the overall economy was doing well in general. This time, the global economy still remains soft even as multiple interest rate hikes loom over the horizon; could this lead to an amalgamation of twin terrors?
"If my income is flat or falling, and my mortgage payments are rising, at some point I'm probably gonna be screwed." -not a real quote
The same applies to corporates around the world. What's more, the trend towards closing up economies is only going to worsen the situation as corporates fight rising costs and artificial barriers to do business in these countries.
Summary of Thoughts
In general, I feel that a moderately defensive play is the way I would enter this year, only picking up on growth opportunities when there are strong catalysts at work. My goal of building a passive income book is still here, and between the added liquidity from a full-time job and an established dividend portfolio, I think that the year of the rooster will definitely be interesting.... As long as I don't get cocky.
