“What gets measured, gets managed.”
So far, 2018 has been a relatively flat year in the broad U.S. Market indexes. There have been lots of ups and downs, but during the first half of this year the S&P 500 has only produced a price gain of 1.67% and a total return of 2.65%, assuming dividends were reinvested. (Source: spdji.com )
Let’s see how the Deep Value ETF Accumulator’s portfolio has faired in this environment.
Deep Value ETF Accumulator Performance January 1, 2018 thru June 30, 2018.
We are very pleased with our results for H1 2018. The Roth IRAs have done the best and I attribute that to the flexibility that we have in those accounts. The traditional IRA continues to struggle because we are still working through some investments that we rolled over from an old 401k. The brokerage account is a new account and hasn’t had much time generate a lot of gains. The 401k is completely automated, so I don’t do anything with it except throw money into it. The StockPile account is a very minute part of our portfolio and it too is automated.
Here is a snapshot of our holdings as of June 30, 2018:
Notes on the heaviest weightings in our portfolio:
REITs – weight 21.21% – we aggressively accumulated REZ during the end of 2017 through the beginning of 2018. This investment is doing very well, and we expect to trim some profits in REZ sometime this year.
Mexico – weight 12.65% – this investment has languished during most of 2018. EWW continues to pay us a reasonable dividend of 2.27% and it is currently in an uptrend. EWW was recently in Bear Market mode but is now in Correction mode.
Energy – weight 11.59% – we have reduced our exposure to the energy sector by 11% since the beginning of 2018. We still enjoy owning this sector ETF and we believe XLE has lots of room to run. It also has a nice dividend of 3.04%.
Utilities – weight 8.43% – we aggressively accumulated RYU during the beginning of 2018. This investment is doing very well, and we like the dividends at 3.27%.
Brazil – weight 6.64% – EWZ has been deep in Bear Market mode for the last few months. We have taken advantage of this deep discount and will continue to accumulate more EWZ if it reverses back into a downtrend.
Changes to the Deep Value ETF Accumulator daily charts during H1 2018:
Added FIW – First Trust Water ETF – You can read why we like FIW right here: Best Long-Term Performance Miscellaneous Sector ETFs
Replaced SLY with EES – Both are excellent U.S. Small Cap Blend ETFs, but we have decided to go with EES. You can read about the long-term performance of both ETFs right here: Best Long-Term Performance U.S. Small Cap Blend ETFs
Replaced DWM with FGD – Both are good Foreign Large Value ETFs, but we now prefer FGD. You can read about the long-term performance of these ETFs right here: Best Long-Term Performance International Large Cap Value ETFs
Replaced PKW with FTCS – Again, both are excellent U.S. Large Cap Blend ETFs, but we now prefer FTCS. You can read about the long-term performance of these ETFs right here: Best Long-Term Performance U.S. Large Cap Blend ETFs
If you have built a system for your investments, I encourage you to measure the performance of your portfolio. My hope is that your portfolio is performing well. But remember, you’ve gotta buy this stuff when it’s on sale. It really does make a difference.
Thank you taking time to read this article.
Very Respectfully, Micah McDonald, aka the Deep Value ETF Accumulator
Ps: you can view our 2017 Annual Performance Report right here: 2017 Annual Performance Report – The Deep Value ETF Accumulator
Disclosure: I am ‘Long’ many of the funds mentioned in this article and I intend to purchase shares of the EWD ETF within the next 72 hours. I am not a licensed investment advisor. Please perform your own due diligence or seek the advice of a Registered Investment Advisor prior to investing in any fund mentioned in this article.