Cornerman

Portfolio news – June 2017 changes

June again, some portfolio news again. Just one new position this month Austrian real estate company Conwert. Mainly active in Germany and Austria, mostly in Germany. Big in residential real estate. Which is boring , hence good. The real estate market in Germany is much more stable and boring compared too the Netherlands, rents are more affordable so not everyone is forced into buying a home. The real estate itself reflects a more real value if you like. It doesn’t go up like crazy.

Some hotspots exempt like Munich. What this means people tend to rent much longer , stable income and there is a real demand for renting. Which attributes a lot to the stability of the market. Dividend at the moment is around 0,30 EUR , and with a share price of around 17 at the moment this is a dividend yield of 1,76% , again not spectacular but there is room to grow here.

Only thing I completely missed was the takeover bid from Vovonia , silly me. We’ll see how this plays out. It’s a nice way to get some exposure into mainly , the German real estate market without buying a rental unit yourself.

The rest of the money and an extra amount went into the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS index fund. Which I did to balance the portfolio 50/50 , so 50% index and 50% dividend stocks I pick. Science wise the consensus is that beating an index fund is near impossible as an amateur. So as I want to compare my own performance and not totally throw away my hobby, it’s only common sense to have it 50/50.

June 2017 – Dividend

June is over again which means dividend time. This month has been another good month , in comparison with last year the dividend is up 112%. Seems like a high number but it’s mainly new positions which pay out dividends for the first time. It’s the building of the portfolio which makes this rather large percentage appear.

The first goal of this portfolio is to pay for my fixed monthly costs. Think mortgage , utility bills etc. We are nowhere near this goal but it’s progressing nicely. Every Euro automated income is welcome.

So I am pretty happy with the progress and it’s fun working on this goal. Now the numbers. Excluding the dividend tax which I pay but deduct from my taxes at the end of each year.

27/06/2017 VANGUARD DIVIDEND APPRECIATION ETF EUR 1,37
26/06/2017 RDSA Dividend Coupon EUR 41,94
20/06/2017 HAL Trust EUR 71,00
14/06/2017 Icahn Enterprises L.P. EUR 1,35
09/06/2017 Emerson Electric Company EUR 4,32
09/06/2017 Emerson Electric Company EUR 0,65
08/06/2017 Microsoft Corporation EUR 7,03
07/06/2017 Unilever Certificate EUR 3,59
02/06/2017 Porsche Automobil Holding SE EUR 10,10

Totaal EUR 141,35

Portfolio news – May 2017 changes

Well this post is a bit overdue, but not too late. In May I added one new position to my portfolio and used the remainder of the cash to buy ETF’s , specifically the Vanguard FTSE all world ETF.

The new addition is a Dutch investment company called HAL investments, It’s the investment vehicle of one of the most famous Rotterdam shipping family’s, Van der Vorm. They used to own the Holland America shipping line , hence the name HAL. It’s not my usual investment but for me it’s an interesting one. It’s not as much about the company’s they own which are available on the stock exchange. It’s the ones that are not.

For small time investors like myself it’s hard getting in on good company’s that are not listed on one of the exchanges. This is were HAL becomes interesting. They own parts of Coolblue, infomedics and others.

The family holds most of the shares which is a nice vote of confidence. They pay a healthy dividend which contributes nicely to my goal of living off the dividends that come in every year.

the downside is they are a bit heavily invested in the exploration for oil & gas, which has not been that great of a sector the past few years. Still they manage to make a nice profit anyway.

It’s been going strong since 1989 and I believe they will do a good job investing in company’s for years to come. Hopefully they will make more investments in company’s without a listing.

May 2017 – Dividend

It’s the end of May again, Another round of dividends, comparing the amount with last year it’s around 180% more, due to new additions to the portfolio such as Munich Re. Still it’s a nice increase and one for the future. The goal is expanding the dividend income and this month is a nice example.

For the most part it’s recurring dividends however, it’s just that Munich Re is a big chunk in this picture.

The numbers:

18-05-2017 Apple Inc EUR 5,68
18-05-2017 Accell Group EUR 7,20
15-05-2017 K+S EUR 12,00
15-05-2017 NSI EUR 14,00
15-05-2017 ONEOK Inc USD 5,54
12-05-2017 ASML Holding EUR 4,80
11-05-2017 Amsterdam Com EUR 22,50
04-05-2017 Bayer EUR 13,50
02-05-2017 Muenchener Re EUR 129,00

Total 214,22

The search for employment new style

Well it’s been a while since my last update , last few months I have been looking for a ‘job’ , a bit of a testing ground for the workload I can still manage. I had a first meeting 2 weeks ago and the meeting went well, unfortunately there wasn’t a project which was adequate for me to participate in.

It was my first job interview in my new situation and it went well, although the next few days I experienced some backlash. It was very good as you can see how people react and how my explanation of my position can be viewed and where I can improve.

A week later I had another job interview which went very well , I can start this week for a few hours a week. I am very excited. It’s a big step in the right direction. I will be working on things that need to be done but aren’t time sensitive. On my own pace in a very quiet environment. Very good !

Next step will be to get all the paper work sorted, which should be fine. Good news all round. Until next time.

Portfolio news – April 2017 changes

So what’s new, this month I sold my stake in Accell, the company was in take over negotiations with a large automotive and industrial group named PON.

Within a day the price went up with about 26% , I didn’t want to sell at that time since the dividend was due and I estimated a value of about 33 Euro’s per share was about right. So after a month of negotiations and due diligence Accell withdrew from the negotiation table.

Not a problem so far , PON had upped the bid to 33,75 excluding the divided , they came up from 32,75 including the dividend. This apparently wasn’t enough. Still not a problem for me since I am in it for the long term. But at the same time the CEO quits. Which is not a good thing. It creates unrest and instability. Which I really don’t like. So I decided to sell my position in Accell.

It was a nice ride and a good profit. But still I would have preferred to hold on without the turmoil. All will be fine after this I think. And I will pick the stock up at a lower price point, which it will bound too go to.

In addition I added to my Ahold Delhaize position , which is now at it’s maximum percentage within my portfolio. Again mainly to balance everything a bit. I also sold a few call options on my portfolio as part of my strategy to increase my results. This will earn me an extra 0,45% this month.

The rest of the money went into a index fund , the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS. Which is part of the idea that index funds will always outperform stock picking and especially trading.

April 2017 – Dividend

April 2017 is in the past, which means another rundown of the monthly dividends. It’s another good month and another increase compared to last year, this time it’s 7,3%. If all goes well, next year will see another increase.

Lot’s of people ask me why I don’t just buy index funds, since they will generate a very good if unbeatable result over long periods of time. The answer is simple. It’s a hobby and I enjoy reading about the world in general and economics in particular. And I like picking stocks , it keeps me active and I can set goals on my own pace. Another reason is most index funds pay little or no dividends, they automatically reinvest them. And my ultimate goal is to get my living expenses covered by my dividend income.

I do invest in index funds, just to have a nice risk spread and profit of the undeniable maths behind it.
Hopefully this explains it a bit. Now the numbers :

28/04/2017 Dow Chemical EUR 4,22
26/04/2017 Ahold Delhaize Koninklijke EUR 28,50
26/04/2017 Cisco Systems EUR 7,45
25/04/2017 General Electric EUR 4,84
19/04/2017 Nedap EUR 28,00
18/04/2017 Whole Foods Market EUR 1,28
18/04/2017 Icahn Enterprises LP EUR 1,38
17/04/2017 W.P. Carey (REIT) EUR 9,13
04/04/2017 Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF EUR 1,17
03/04/2017 Coca-Cola EUR 5,09

Total EUR 89,68

Redesigning everyday life – Finding a new work environment

News again, the next step towards maximizing my recovery has begun. I have budget and a coach. Most important thing the coach will do is help me navigate towards an internship at a company. It’s testing myself if I will be able to function in an office environment without burning all my energy at once and not being able to do anything afterwards.

I am very excited to get going again. It will take some time finding a place for a couple of hours a week and find something which has some level of difficulty, so it’s worth doing in order to get a good sense of what’s possible.

So what do I need ? A nice and quiet workplace, tasks that have a beginning and an end which can be reached within a reasonable time frame. Not working on a project that will take months , but rather tasks within a larger framework which will take me a couple of hours in a week.

And a bit of understanding if I can’t remember people’s names, juggle words and ask the same question over and over again. That’s it basically.

March 2017 – Dividend

New dividends again, this month the list is pretty much the same as last year, the amount is also almost the same. It’s slightly less due to currency fluctuations. About 2% less. The next few months will see more dividends coming in. the numbers :

29/03/2017 Unibail-Rodamco EUR 5,10
27/03/2017 Royal Dutch Shell A EUR 44,20
15/03/2017 Unilever Certificate EUR 3,20
10/03/2017 Emerson Electric EUR 4,47
09/03/2017 Microsoft Corp EUR 7,26

Total EUR 64,23

Portfolio news – March 2017 changes

March again and one new addition to the portfolio. I skipped the February round of investing due to moving into a new house and we immediately decided to pay a part of the house in cash. So February had no room for investing in the portfolio.

this month I’ve invested in one of the worlds famous makers of sport cars, Porsche. Aside from the fact they make highly desirable cars they also have a nice profit margin, a nice dividend and an overall large worldwide fan base.

The main issue last year was the diesel gate scandal which cost the company a lot in terms of bad press and a significantly lower stock price. It’s been recovering again for a couple of months and it’s about fairly valued for now.

I’m expecting when the economy recovers further and into the ‘real’ economy their sales will go up. Furthermore I think their nice margins will stay intact. We are still a long way from being a car free society and given the lack of real investment and innovation in public transport, so people will still need cars. And many drivers dream of a Porsche.