bwoodinv @bwoodinv: "May 2024 update The exposure is..."

United Kingdom

May 2024 update The exposure is small, but still $PETS.L (Pets at Home Group Plc) continues to disappoint and is current still down by over 23%. I shall continue to hold for the time given that the exposure is small. Elsewhere, all positions are in the green, and the portfolio still has a strong UK bias. $LLOY.L (Lloyd's Banking Group PLC) continues to be one of the best performers I’ve ever had in the portfolio, having closed and re-opened several times over the years. It is currently up by 30%. $BLND.L (British Land) is picking up, currently up by 20%. I have been interested in REITs since starting the portfolio, and perhaps there are signs that the market is beginning to turn around as inflation figures ease. It might be time to increase positions in the market in general. £BBOX.L is up almost 5% too, although it’s less clear where commercial space is going. Meanwhile, UK house prices have seen a small increase this month, but these are still uncertain times in general for real estate. More pain may play out in the next year or so, especially for households if wage growth stagnates, or the labour market goes soft here in the UK, which it might well do. Some of this depends of course on the results and feeling following July’s general election. Moderate performance $BUD (Anheuser-Busch Inbev Sa-ADR) and $JD.L (JD Sports Fashion PLC) are up by 3.8 an 2.5% respectively. These will be long term holds, as with the rest of the portfolio. I’m still sitting on significant cash, and thinking about how best and when to deploy over the summer. I might wait for the general election to play out as I’m still keen to keep a UK bias. Regards, Ben

5 Mentioned

PETS.L

Pets at Home Group Plc

LLOY.L

Lloyd's Banking Group PLC

BLND.L

British Land

BUD

Anheuser-Busch Inbev Sa-ADR

JD.L

JD Sports Fashion PLC