My first transaction was done back in 8 November 2011 with the purchase of STI ETF. Throughout these 3 years, I had recorded and subsequently archived all my stock holdings with no way of finding out how well I fared against the market index. However, I recently discovered that I could track the CAGR of my portfolio using the XIRR function within Microsoft Excel and thus started to input my transaction history in the spreadsheet.
XIRR function works by inputting two sets of data, transaction value and date (this is reflected by column A and column B as shown in the picture). There are also a couple of rules to follow in order for the function to work.
- Beginning value of portfolio must be positive
- Any "deposit" into the portfolio must be keyed in as a positive value
- Conversely, any withdrawals (sale of stocks/dividends) is a negative value
- When you finally want to compute the CAGR, input the ending balance as a negative
- Note that the date of transactions need not be in order (but must correspond to transaction!)
Using this method and inputting three years' worth of transaction, my portfolio's CAGR for the three year period turned out to be 9.25%!
This figure is definitely an A+++++ grade for me. If this CAGR is sustained for 10 years, $10000 at the start will have turned into $24782 at the end of 10 years. However, given that there was a fantastic bull run these past three years, I am not optimistic that this growth will be sustained. Let's wait and see!
In the mean time, here are some interesting facts of my 3 years investing journey
- My largest gain (unrealised) is currently Singpost, having bought it at $0.98. It is currently at $1.935 now. Including dividends over the years, Singpost is one of my two multi-bagger stocks
- My second multi-bagger was Straco. I first bought it at $0.335 and watched it climb to $0.70 range. In the middle, I also received a special dividend of $0.020 per share.
- My worst investment was definitely Vard. I first bought it at $1.37 and subsequently average at $1.28 and $1.08. All these was in hope that the takeover by the Italians would not succeed and stock price will run thereafter. I was only half right. The takeover did not succeed but the stock price did not run. Haha... Sold it some time after Vard declared that it is caught in a tax charge from Brazilian government (whew, missed a bigger fall when it declared profit guidance)
- Had good profits in the US market. Bought and sold Bank of America for a good profit before. Currently have Apple Inc in my portfolio which I bought in at $88.58
- On track to receiving $1000 dividends this year based on average capital size of $28500. This translates to 3.5% yield.
This is the end for my 3-years-investing report card. Hope you have gained some insight (however little) from this post. Pardon if there are many grammar errors or what not within this post as I am blogging this in the middle of my mugging session! Hope my finals will do as well as my investing :/
Signing off,
SG Youth Investor
