It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

Stubod

We have just started drawdown, currently at 4.5% to support one DB pension that we started last year. Plan to maintain this level for another 3 years until the next pension kicks in, then the year after that that we start State Pensions. No intention of reducing our drawdown in light of current events as it would mean stripping out NSI index linked bonds and Premium bonds which I would prefer to keep intact for the mo..

Thrugelmir

SIPP down 5.6%
ISA down 7.3%

ISA is more aggressively positioned with no fixed interest stocks held and minimal cash balance. 
Noticable that while Government bonds held firm. Other fixed income stocks weakened considerably. 

DairyQueen

Thrugelmir said:

SIPP down 5.6%
ISA down 7.3%

ISA is more aggressively positioned with no fixed interest stocks held and minimal cash balance. 
Noticable that while Government bonds held firm. Other fixed income stocks weakened considerably. 

Yes, that was also something I noted. Investment grade held firm whilst corporate dropped. Something to take away from this correction.

cfw1994

DairyQueen said:

Sea_Shell said:

Well the damage for January to February month end, overall, is down £20k.  £13k of that is pension pots, and £7k ISAs. 

Feb 19 to Feb 20 still up by £30k.    I wonder what March will bring!!!

Do you know your percentages? What be interested to see how others have fared during the first correction in over a decade.

Fortified by a full-strength coffee I just took the plunge and checked our portfolios. Last week I completed a minor rebalance. Slightly increased Mr DQ's equity exposure (groan) and moderately decreased mine (sigh of relief). Drawdown (due to start April 2021) will be heavily front loaded for me for tax reasons. Cash allocation was quite high in order to fulfil drawdown requirement in years 1-5.

Not looking as bad as I feared courtesy of the high cash allocation.The scores on the doors (over one month):

Pension portfolio me = -7.2%
Pension portfolio Mr DQ = -8.5%
Combined portfolio = -7.9%

Combined pension portfolio allocation at the beginning of this week:
Equities 74.45%
Fixed Interest 7.53%
Cash 16.48%
Other (WP) 1.54%

I suspect that the bottom is still some distance away but this week has been a reasonable test of my tolerance to risk. I definitely need that cash buffer to act as a psychological safety net against a highish 75% equity allocation.

Anyone else able to share performance and allocation over the last month?

My main pot is with Aviva.
2 weeks back I felt ‘nervous’ and shifted a bit more of the funds to more defensive stuff (first 3 below).  Turns out that was a good move....

• 15% BlackRock over 15 Year Corp Bond Index Tracker
• 15% BlackRock over 15 Year Gilt Index Tracker
• 20% Pre-retirement Fixed Interest
  
• 25% BlackRock World ex UK Equity Index Tracker
  
• 25% North American 

These have lost about 3.6% since the peak on 21st Feb, which I think is pretty fair: essentially back to where I was mid-Jan.  If I stopped looking Friday morning, it was ‘only’ back to where it was at the end of Jan.....pick your points carefully to feel better!
I’m also acutely focussed on the LTA as an issue (first world problem, I know......), & have already taken some TFLS in a couple of tranches....this downward shift in values takes pressure off the remainder of my uncrystallised pot....

I’m not convinced we are out of the woods, and not just because of Covid-19.  It feels to me like the markets have been accelerating too high for some time now, and overdue a correction: the virus affecting supply chains and more is just a trigger.   

Not that it is all ‘doom and gloom’, but there may be more to fall and a bit of a trough along the bottom.  

Maybe!

DairyQueen

cfw1994 said:

I’m also acutely focussed on the LTA as an issue (first world problem, I know......), & have already taken some TFLS in a couple of tranches....this downward shift in values takes pressure off the remainder of my uncrystallised pot....

I’m not convinced we are out of the woods, and not just because of Covid-19.  It feels to me like the markets have been accelerating too high for some time now, and overdue a correction: the virus affecting supply chains and more is just a trigger.   

Not that it is all ‘doom and gloom’, but there may be more to fall and a bit of a trough along the bottom.  

Maybe!

Mr DQ is in the same position (flirting with LTA breach) and crystallised his SIPPs last year for the same reason. He has just received an LTA valuation on an old S32 policy which will pay an annuity from April. It has been valued at double what we expected so this correction also has a silver lining for us. In an ideal world the recovery will occur sometime after April 2022.

Sequence of returns risk was always a threat to those of us entering drawdown after a long bull run. I guess that we now get to test our contingency plans.

Sea_Shell

My plan is to leave my nuts buried for as long as possible!!

tigerspill

I have just done my Month end updates.
Overall my investments are down 3.17% since 1st Feb.  I am up 10.3% for the year from 1/3/2019.
My ISAs are split across VLS 40 and a portfolio set up a few years ago by an IFA.  Plus a few "punts".
My pension (AVC) is split around 50:50 between Global Equities (50% UK, 50% ex. UK) and Cash).  The globe Equities element has been hit hardest by about -6%.
Thankfully I have 5 years in cash along with taking my DB pension next January.  OH will take her DB in 5 years.  If this happens, we have more than 5 years in cash and given this is the likely position, I am potentially too heavy in cash and looking for maybe investing a bit of that cash in the coming months - maybe our ISA allowances in the new FY.  Need to think some more about our plans to try and lock them down as best as possible.

atush

Just got back from 4 dys in Barcelona.

Was great weather food was good, no regrets

Crabby

Did you visit the Sagrada Familia? Security was impressive.

MK62

DairyQueen said:

Sea_Shell said:

Well the damage for January to February month end, overall, is down £20k.  £13k of that is pension pots, and £7k ISAs. 

Feb 19 to Feb 20 still up by £30k.    I wonder what March will bring!!!

Do you know your percentages? What be interested to see how others have fared during the first correction in over a decade.

This is actually the 7th correction in the last decade - if you take the S&P500 as the basis. FTSE is similar though.
It's the speed of this one which marks it out as a little different though.... 

We're also just under 8% down overall (2 ISAs, 4 pensions), as measured from the highest point in Feb, with a roughly 65/20/15 allocation to equities/bonds&property/cash......though the cash (split 70/30 outside/inside pensions) is a little higher than usual as I liquidated next tax years pension withdrawal back in January.