For the most part, 2023 has been a fantastic year for many investors. I thought it would be interesting to share a crucial chapter of my investment journey: My Year-to-Date (YTD) 2023 performance review of my portfolio. Today, we’ll take a closer look at how my investments have been made throughout this year, the lessons we can take away as well as what lies ahead.
The Indexes Performance (Year–to–Date Performance)
Let’s first take a look at how the indexes have performed YTD!
Out of the 3 indexes, the Nasdaq 100 has severely outperformed the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average with over 30+% returns YTD!
Overview of my Portfolio (Year-to-Date Performance)
The Key Statistics are as follows:
- Cumulative Return: 30.63%
- Last 5 Days Return: 1.45%
- Last 10 Days Return: 1.67%
- Best Day Return: 4.56%
- Worst Day Return: -3.21%
Here are some of my top holdings:
- Alibaba
- Meta
- Adobe
- Veeva Systems
- Alphabet
My Cumulative Benchmark Comparison with Nasdaq, S&P and Dow Jones (Year-to-Date Performance)
Summary of Cumulative Benchmark Comparison with Indexes:
- Nasdaq 100 Index (YTD): 37.78%
- SPX Index (YTD): 12.22%
- DJI (YTD): 2.48%
- My Portfolio: 30.63%
The Nasdaq has outperformed the market year to date, returning more than 37.78%. After a deeper analysis, I understood that the lack of performance in my own portfolio may be attributed to my exposure to the Chinese market, where equities have yet to rebound while US stocks have returned to pre-Covid levels or even higher!
With the good run in 2023 in mind, numerous news sites have begun posting pieces warning of the possibility of a stock market meltdown in the near future. I believe a stock market crash will only occur when there is a significant amount of uncertainty, similar to the pandemic we saw a few years ago.
In the recent weeks, the market has not been performing entirely well as well due to the uncertainty of a possible hike of the Fed Funds Rate. However, many consumers and investors were spared from a 12th rate hike when Federal Reserve Officials voted to keep their benchmark borrowing rate steady at their September Meeting.
Moreover, things in the East do not seem that optimistic either. China’s 2023 GDP forecast has been cut to 5% from 5.5% according to Reuters. However, I am still quite optimistic about the China market as the sales in China companies start to stabilize, I believe we might potentially see a run up.
Lessons Learnt:
- Time in the Market over Timing the Market:
This may seem cliche, but I have personal experience with it. Attempting to time the bottom and peak of the market in 2020 and 2021 did not go well for me. Patience is a virtue, I realised. More often than not, doing nothing is the greatest thing that I can see from my performance this year, which is actually quite good.
- Risk Comes From Not Knowing what You Are Doing
Many first-time investors began investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies without fully comprehending how these asset classes operate. Me included, for stocks. Previously, I enjoyed watching YouTube videos to learn about hot and trendy stocks to buy, but after getting burnt a few times, I knew that is when I needed to stop. I kept to fundamental investing and became extremely picky about the equities I picked, which fortunately produced some reasonable returns.
- Saving your first $100k is the hardest (Work in Progress)
As I aim to hit $100k by 25, I know it will be incredibly tough. However, I feel it is crucial to have a goal in mind. I believe that hitting $100k is not just about the monetary benefits but the many lessons you can learn from it – the struggles, sacrifices and discipline you have cultivated to save for that first 100k. I am halfway there hence I know the pain.
Risks and Challenges
As with any investment, it is important to understand the risks that you are taking. Of course, no investment comes without its own set of risks. Market volatility, economic uncertainties are part of our everyday lives and as an investor yourself, it is important to ride through these volatility. With the test of time, I have started to detach my emotions from my portfolio value and just follow a system where I have always invested in. Indeed, investing is a self-discovering journey where you learn a lot about your own emotions, and navigating through these challenges has been an experience for me. It taught me the importance of having a diversified portfolio and investing for the long-term which you should as well!
Our Stand
As I reflect on my YTD Performance of my portfolio, I am filled with gratitude for the knowledge and growth I have achieved thus far. Investing is not just about the value of your portfolio; it’s also a journey of continuous learning and strategic decision making. If you find this useful, stay tuned for my posts on my blog where we post weekly about our investment journey and valuable tips on managing one’s portfolio.
Happy investing!
In addition, do check out our other latest articles. If you are keen, check out our articles on other analysis: Trust Bank Referral and Cisco and Splunk Technologies Acquisition.
Free USD18 with just a simple deposit of $1.
Disclaimer: The information provided by LearnToInvest serves as an educational piece and is not intended to be personalised investment advice. Readers should always do their own due diligence and consider their financial goals before the usage of these products. We do not offer any warranty or assurance regarding the quality of these services or goods.