Jeb…thank you for the informative post and for the ideas as we head into 2020. In full disclosure, I am “that guy”!
- the guy that owns way too many companies (68 as of 12/31/19).
- the guy that can’t remember what many of my companies do
- the guy that finds himself in an impossible storm of data every earnings seasons,
- the guy that subscribed to way to many TMF services and quickly had a portfolio of 112 companies,
But, luckily, with the help of this message board, I am also the guy willing to learn and self evaluate and adjust my investment strategies. I am learning that paring down a portfolio to a manageable number of companies is not easy. But, over the past 12 months I have gone from 112 companies down to 68. For me, 2020 will be judged by increased portfolio performance on a base of about 30 companies. It won’t be easy…investment “anchoring” in companies I currently own as well as a severe case of FOMO are my two biggest battles I fight each day. However, I am committed to getting down to 30 companies this year and by typing this on the board today, I am hoping that it helps provide the proper motivation.
2019 for me was a +33.9% year. I’ll take it for now, but I see where I could be far more efficient in my portfolio management and perhaps produce better performance from a more concentrated portfolio. Quite honestly, I am not sure I have the courage or confidence to ever manage a portfolio of 5-15 companies, but I am committed to a much smaller portfolio in 2020 and beyond.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that some of the comments in this thread bring to light a conversation about proper diversification, asset allocation as well as asset location, but I will save those thoughts for another board.
Best to all for a prosperous 2020,
Harley