The Dividend Guy’s April Dividend Portfolio Review

Time is your friend; impulse is you enemy. This quote from John Bogle really sums up the necessary thinking during the first quarter of the year and the start of quarter two. After the market drop we saw to start the year out and then in the last couple of weeks the market trying to rally and adding significant value it confirms the importance of not acting on impulse. The market is going to go down, and then it will go up, and then it will go down, and then it will go up….you get the picture. While watching the news or reading the paper, it is important not to get worked up and make decisions that are not based on research and confirmed facts. Investing is nothing more than time and having the patience to wait things out. Of course a properly diversified portfolio will help with the swings, but over time history has shown us that markets go up.

In terms of my own personal portfolio, volatility was as high as I have as I have seen it for a long time. Once again this volatility was driven by the financial markets, however the earnings surprise by GE didn’t help.

I am not happy with GE’s action and feel that hey are rightly being punished in the markets. Above all else the stock market likes consistency and doing what you say you will. When one month you give a positive outlook and then the next month you come out with a very different story, then your stock deserves to take a dive. Trouble is I own the stock and my portfolio has suffered some exasperated short-term paper losses that I think could have been avoided. Wake up GE and start managing your news releases better.

I completed a couple of transactions this month as I wrote about here, here, and here. As a summary, here is what happened:

• To assist with my overweighing of Canadian stocks and to avoid having too much in my employer shares, I sold some Talisman Energy.
• Sold my holdings in Epcor Income trust. I was not tracking this stock and wanted to have only index funds as my income trust holdings.
• Initiated a position in the Vanguard U.S. REIT ETF (VNQ) to broaden my REIT holdings to include both Canadian and U.S. properties.
• Initiated a position in the Vanguard Emerging Market ETF (VWO) to broaden my global holdings away from just large-cap developed global locations.
• To further diversify my small-cap holdings, I bought some iShares Russell Midcap Index ETF (IWC).
• To add some diversification to my bond holdings, I took a position in the iShares Canadian Real Return Bond Index fund (XRB).

The purpose of these transactions was diversification. It is my hope that with the additional diversification I have achieved, my portfolio returns will be better with less volatility.

So what does my portfolio look like this month. The following tables and charts will give you a clear picture of how this shape up. Of course, as a reminder this is my portfolio and it works for me but may not work for you. I do not suggest you copy it in any way!!!!

The Portfolio

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My Asset Allocation

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My Sector Allocation

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There you have it – my heart on the table so to speak. Please feel free to comment away…