Damien’s June 2025 portfolio review – Pushing towards new highs

The background to my portfolio

Back in March 2015 I decided to invest £50,000 of my own money using 80-20 Investor. The purpose was twofold, firstly to show how you can use 80-20 Investor to invest and outperform the market with only a few minutes effort every now and then. Secondly, no other investment commentator, journalist or research provider invests their own money for fear of failing. This is a sorry state of affairs and is precisely why I committed to openly running my own portfolio for 80-20 Investor members to see.

Since then I have periodically changed my portfolio using the fund suggestions provided by the 80-20 Investor algorithm and associated research. I always disclose the changes at the time they are made.

Performance update

As is usual in my portfolio reviews, the chart below shows how my portfolio has outperformed since I started the challenge in March 2015. The green line is the performance of my portfolio while the red line is the benchmark showing the average return achieved by professional fund managers given the same asset mix. To accurately calculate this I have used the average return for each sector in which my portfolio invested. The blue line shows what the average multi-asset fund with comparable equity content achieved. In other words, the red line would show the extra performance added by just the asset mix of my portfolio (where I was invested i.e. European equities etc) over picking a typical multi-asset fund (the blue line). While the green line (which is my actual performance) shows the impact of being in the right funds at the right time, as identified by the 80-20 Investor algorithm.

As you can see my portfolio continues to outperform its benchmarks and is extending its lead over both of them as it pushes  towards a new all-time high.

Looking at the performance of my portfolio since my update in May, it also enjoyed another strong rally, as shown in the chart below, once again outperforming its benchmarks.

It means that the level of outperformance exhibited by my portfolio has grown even larger and is at its widest since the portfolio's inception. In last month's review I went into great detail about how my portfolio is outperforming portfolios/funds run by the vast majority of investment professionals operating in the multi-asset managed unit trust sectors. This remains the case and I am exceptionally pleased by the portfolio's performance, both over the short-term but also the long-term.

Turning my attention to the individual holdings within my portfolio, the table below shows the performance of each fund since May's portfolio review.

Once again, there have been some incredible performances, especially those funds with exposure to US stocks, after US stock markets enjoyed their strongest monthly performance since November 2023. Meanwhile, my gold fund was the only holding to lose money. Other top performers include those funds exposed to Asian and emerging market equities, such as Barclays Global Markets Adventurous and Invesco Asian, with each benefiting from the weakening US dollar.

It is also worth pointing out that three of the funds within my portfolio made it into the latest Consistent funds shortlist, published last week. The three funds are Invesco Asian (UK), Man Japan Core Alpha and Premier Miton Tellworth UK Select.

Name	% return over the last month (since May review)
Ninety One UK Special Situations	4.61
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	4.38
Artemis Global Income	4.32
Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index	4.11
Barclays Global Markets Adventurous	3.4
Invesco Asian (UK)	3.05
Aviva Inv Global Equity Income	2.56
Jupiter China	2.51
M&G Global Dividend	1.93
Man Japan Core Alpha	1.72
abrdn High Yield Bond	1.64
Schroder Strategic Credit	0.95
Premier Miton Tellworth UK Select	0.53
iShares Physical Gold ETC	-1.98

As usual, the table below shows which funds within my portfolio are in the current BOTB or BFBS tables and which are not. Those funds in blue are still in the BOTB while those in orange are not in the BOTB but remain in the BFBS list. Meanwhile, any funds in red have dropped out of both shortlists.

Fund	Allocation	Risk	Sector	ISIN Code
abrdn High Yield Bond	14	Lower	Sterling High Yield	GB00B79RR984
Artemis Global Income	12.5	Medium	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561
Aviva Inv Global Equity Income	10	Medium	Global Equity Income	GB0030441918
Barclays Global Markets Adventurous	8	Medium	Flexible Investment	GB00B4YPY060
Invesco Asian (UK)	5.5	Higher	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B1W7HW60
iShares Physical Gold ETC	6	Medium	Commodity & Energy ETF	IE00B4ND3602
Jupiter China	3	Higher	China/Greater China	GB00B1DTDX49
M&G Global Dividend	5.5	Medium	Global Equity Income	GB00B46J9127
Man Group Man Japan CoreAlpha	3	Higher	Japan	GB00B0119B50
Ninety One UK Special Situations	4	Higher	UK All Companies	GB00B1XFJS91
Schroder Strategic Credit	8	Lower	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BJZ2ZC09
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	6	Higher	North America	GB00BD5FHW12
Premier Miton Tellworth UK Select	5.5	Lower	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BNY7YM73
Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index	9	Medium	Global	GB00B59G4Q73

That means that only 2 funds are on the red list this month, having fallen out of the BOTB and BFBS tables. They are:

• Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index
• Barclays Global Markets Adventurous

As usual, I will not make any changes to funds still in the BOTB or BFBS tables (coloured blue or orange). This includes Aviva Inv Global Equity Income which was on the red list last month. However, back in May I decided to retain the fund, even though it was on the red list, after it only just missed out on a place in the BFBS table, a feat it has since achieved after it rallied 2.56% following my last portfolio review. It would appear that my decision last month was a good one, with the benefit of hindsight.

This then leads me on to Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index and Barclays Global Markets Adventurous which were both also on the red list last month. Back then, I gave them a stay of execution after they showed strong momentum during April. It turns out that that was a good call as both funds have since rallied 4.11% and 3.5% respectively. In addition, for the last month Barclays Global Markets Adventurous is ranked 28th out of 223 funds in the Flexible Investment sector in terms of performance, while Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index is ranked 41st out of 280 funds from the Global sector over the same time period. This puts both of them firmly in the top quartile of performers in their respective sectors over the last month and among the best performers within my portfolio since last time (as shown in the earlier table).

It therefore makes it incredibly difficult to make changes to either fund given how they have performed over the short-term. It is made even trickier when you consider how the portfolio as a whole continues to perform so well and in line with the performance of the BOTB in recent months, despite the now significant differences in asset mix.

Despite this I will make one change, in keeping with the 80-20 Investor process that has fared so well over the last decade. As such, I will replace the Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index fund. Although its performance has been strong over the short-term, its overall performance since I first added it to my portfolio back in November has been disappointing. The chart below shows how the fund has underperformed against its sector average and also the Barclays Global Markets Adventurous fund. You can also see how much more volatile Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index has been compared to its sector average and the Barclays fund

I will invest the proceeds from the sale of the Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index fund equally between Ninety One UK Special Situations and WS Havelock Global Select. In doing so I am backing one of the top performing funds in my portfolio while investing in an alternative global fund from June's BOTB selection. The chart below shows the performance of the two replacement funds versus the Vanguard fund so far this year. Both Ninety One UK Special Situations and WS Havelock Global Select have benefited from their greater value focus and UK equity exposure, compared to the Vanguard fund that tracks the FTSE Developed World-ex UK equity Index which is heavily skewed to US tech/growth stocks. This fund switch represents the first change to my portfolio in 3 months, which is possibly the longest period of consistency since my portfolio's inception over 10 years ago.

By making the switch I will marginally reduce my US equity exposure while at the same time increasing my UK equity exposure. This shifts my asset mix slightly towards that of the BOTB, but as mentioned earlier the differences which will remain haven't so far hampered the performance of my portfolio. In addition, the funds which I am switching into have been less volatile than the Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index fund which will hopefully reduce the volatility profile of my portfolio as a whole.

Fund switch

• 100% out of Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index and 50% into WS Havelock Global Select and 50% into Ninety One UK Special Situations

My portfolio

My portfolio now looks like this:

Fund	Allocation	Risk	Sector	ISIN Code
abrdn High Yield Bond	14	Lower	Sterling High Yield	GB00B79RR984
Artemis Global Income	13	Medium	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561
Aviva Inv Global Equity Income	10	Medium	Global Equity Income	GB0030441918
Barclays Global Markets Adventurous	8	Medium	Flexible Investment	GB00B4YPY060
Invesco Asian (UK)	5.5	Higher	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B1W7HW60
iShares Physical Gold ETC	6.5	Medium	Commodity & Energy ETF	IE00B4ND3602
Jupiter China	3	Higher	China/Greater China	GB00B1DTDX49
M&G Global Dividend	5	Medium	Global Equity Income	GB00B46J9127
Man Group Man Japan CoreAlpha	2.5	Higher	Japan	GB00B0119B50
Ninety One UK Special Situations	8.5	Higher	UK All Companies	GB00B1XFJS91
Schroder Strategic Credit	8	Lower	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BJZ2ZC09
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	6	Higher	North America	GB00BD5FHW12
Premier Miton Tellworth UK Select	5.5	Lower	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BNY7YM73
WS Havelock Global Select	4.5	Higher	Global	GB00BFM7DN78

 

My Portfolio asset mix

My portfolio asset mix now has approximately 65% exposure to equities. Last month's figures are shown in brackets.

• UK Equities 14% (12%)
• North American Equities 19% (24%)
• Asian Equities 4% (4%)
• Chinese Equities 4% (5%)
• Emerging Market Equities 4% (0%)
• Japanese Equities 4% (5%)
• European Equities 8% (8%)
• Other International equity 8% (5%)
• Commodities and energy 6% (6%)
• UK Fixed Interest 4% (4%)
• Global Fixed Interest 19% (19%)
• Cash 0% (0%)
• Alternative Investment Strategies 6% (8%)

Damien's higher risk and lower risk portfolios

Using the logic described in my post: Update to Damien’s alternative risk portfolios I created hypothetical higher and lower risk versions of my portfolio below:

Lower risk

Fund	Allocation %
abrdn High Yield Bond	20
Artemis Global Income	19
Aviva Inv Global Equity Income	14
Barclays Global Markets Adventurous	11.5
iShares Physical Gold ETC	9
M&G Global Dividend	7
Schroder Strategic Credit	11.5
Premier Miton Tellworth UK Select	8

 

Higher risk

Fund	Allocation %
Artemis Global Income	18
Aviva Inv Global Equity Income	14
Barclays Global Markets Adventurous	11
Invesco Asian (UK)	8
iShares Physical Gold ETC	9
Jupiter China	4
M&G Global Dividend	7
Man Group Man Japan CoreAlpha	3
Ninety One UK Special Situations	12
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	8
WS Havelock Global Select	6