Saturday, April 24, 2010

* 2010-Q1 Progress Review

After each quarter-end I review my asset allocation and year-to-date total returns by category. The attached PDF contains my actual asset allocation as of 2010-Q1. Below is a high-level summary of the information contained in the PDF:

Asset Allocation Actual Target Diff.
Cash/Fixed Income 27.6% 28.0% -0.4%
Equities-Domestic 38.7% 38.0% 0.7%
Equities-Internl 23.5% 24.0% -0.5%
Employer Equity 10.2% 10.0% 0.2%
Total 100.0% 100.0%
Cash/Fixed Income 27.6% 28.0% -0.4%
Large Cap. 46.4% 48.0% -1.6%
Small/Mid Cap. 15.8% 14.0% 1.8%
Employer Equity 10.2% 10.0% 0.2%
Total 100.0% 100.0%

Asset Allocation

In the first quarter my asset allocation was reasonably close to my target. Currently the largest variances are between small cap stocks (over allocated 1.8%) and large cap stocks under allocated (under allocated 1.6%). These variances are well below my 2.5% tolerance, so I will adjusted them with future purchases.

2010-Q1 Performance

In the first quarter, the market continued to be kind to my portfolio. After trailing the S&P in 2009, my income stocks portfolio out-performed the S&P in the first quarter. Below are the YTD performances of various categories along with my S&P 500 benchmark (VFINX):
Portfolio Wtd. Avg. 2010 YTD 2009 2008
Income Stocks 2.5% 8.3% 23.9% -20.4%
Pocket Change (9/08) 16.2% 28.0% 21.1% -7.3%
Income ETFs -3.4% 7.9% 17.6% -27.3%
Asset Allocation 1.7% 5.2% 31.0% -28.4%
Mutual Funds -4.8% 3.6% 26.4% -38.0%
S&P 500 (VFINX) -3.7% 5.8% 26.5% -36.3%
BRK.B -9.5% 33.7% 2.2% -32.1%
Income Stocks vs S&P 6.2% 2.5% -2.6% 15.9%
Income Stocks vs BRK 12.0% -25.4% 21.7% 11.7%
When weighted with 2009 and 2008, all but my mutual funds out-performed the S&P. As I have previously stated, it is my desire to beat the S&P over the long-run, so I don't pay a lot of attention to short-term performance either positive or negative.

Passive Income

For Q1/2010 my passive income averaged $812/month, down slightly from the $920/month in Q4. The decrease resulted from lower interest rates on cash holdings. The above amounts include all sources of passive income in my taxable accounts, primarily interest and dividends. It excludes my Roth IRA, 401(k) and blog income (which is not passive).

The next update will be in mid-July. As always, thanks for reading!
(Photo: sanja gjenero)

Cash/Fixed Income 28.0% 27.0% 1.0%
Equities-Domestic 37.9% 39.0% -1.1%
Equities-Internl 23.5% 24.0% -0.5%
Employer Equity 10.6% 10.0% 0.6%