How often do you (or should you) check the performance of your portfolio?

[ENP]

I generally go on my share brokers website and do research on companies every 2-3 days whilst I have time in the evenings.

However, by doing this, everytime I open the home page, there is my watch list of the shares I've either bought already or looking at buying. Therefore, I'm getting updates on how well my share portfolio is doing every 2-3 days also.

Since I've been doing this, I'm becoming more obsessed with the price of my portfolio and partaking in the roller coaster of the ups and downs.

How can I still research companies which I enjoy doing without seeing the wild swing (and emotions that go with it) of my portfolio several times per week?

I value invest for the longer term so this constant day trade mentality is not good!

Howq often do you check how your shares are doing?

 

[Bill M]

Re: How often do you (or should you) check the performance of your portfolio

I do a full inventory each Saturday morning. I check the value of my portfolio, totals for cash and the value of all the Super Funds we have, tally it all up and see how it's going. I then add it to list where at a glance I can see what value my total net worth was at any one time. It only takes me 10 minutes or so to do.

I am retired so I have plenty of time on my hands.

 

[tech/a]

Portfolio management should be daily if a discretionary trader
And in the chosen time frame if systematic
Not enough emphasis is placed on portfolio management in my view

 

[hangseng]

Ever since I switched to an SMSF around 5 years ago I have done daily management. Not onerous at all and ever since 2008 it showed to me it was worthwhile doing so. I still make mistakes but the rsults speak for themselves with the funds value far outperforming managed funds by a country mile.

Black swan events can and do happen, me being affected last year again with a tsunami. But although you can't foresee these events, you (me) can learn from them.

The freedom to act quickly and take up opportunities as they arise is a major benefit of daily checking of not only portfolio but what else is going on. You may have core holdings butbsometimes the best opportunities are outside your portfolio. I have made 4 very successful trades in the last 6 months that added significantly to my smsf, only one was in my main portfolio. NWE, HOR and QPN outside and PEN inside. All four still offering significant additional potential upside.

My strategy is also evolving into a rather ruthless one. Even my most favoured stocks under closer scrutiny now. Simply they perform as expected or they go (yes tech even PEN LOL). That doesn't mean dropping in and out of them daily purely based on a short term sp fluctuation, it just means planned progression and development should be happening as planned if not they go.

IMO you need to keep a close watch on your portfolio as often as your time allows. If you don't have the time or inclination to manage closely, IMO you should hand over to others or get out of the market altogether. Set and forget is a recipe for financial disaster, unless of course you bought BHP in the 60's and just remembered today you have a few million shares.

IMO the old set and forget strategy died with the GFC.

 

[CanOz]

Portfolio management should be daily if a discretionary trader
And in the chosen time frame if systematic
Not enough emphasis is placed on portfolio management in my view

Exactly, i don't trade unless my equity curve switch is GREEN!

CanOz

 

[tech/a]

IMO the old set and forget strategy died with the GFC

I see time and again on these boards investors who spend copious hrs researching and valuing companies.
Buying--averaging down--averaging up--holding until way past hurt.

You know if the companies they invested in handled their funds the way these investors handle their portfolios---they'd be calling for the heads of the board!

Why is it that many many investors can dissect a company yet fail to manage their own investments.

 

[numbercruncher]

Virtually every single Australian is now an investor because of compulsary super and the vast majority are set and forget via the default balanced option of their respective funds .....

Not only is set and forget alive and well its still the most common form of investing for most ....

 

[CanOz]

Why is it that many many investors can dissect a company yet fail to manage their own investments.

:iagree:

 

[waimate01]

How often do you check how your shares are doing?

There's some research around that shows there's a strong inverse correlation between performance and frequency of checking. Wish I could remember where I saw it, but the upshot is that the more often you check your portfolio, the more inclined you are to fiddle with things, and the less well you tend to do. It helps explain why women tend to be better long-term consistent investors than men.

The comment obviously applies only to investors, not traders.

 

[basilio]

At the moment it is all one way traffic (down) . I feeling silly that I didn't cash out a few weeks ago when I noticed just how well I had recovered from the earlier situation.

Unfortunately I can't see any upside in the next 6 months. If I look clearly at the overall situation I can only see upheaval in Europe which will immediately translate into world wide problems. So even as I look at what seem to be very attractive/undervalued individual prospects the big picture is a worry. Bit like holding 4 aces in a poker game on the Titantic...

Maybe its time to take a deep breath and invest in stuff closer to home. Family, skills, ways to eat and live that may not require the investment portfolios we are trying to build?

 

[CanOz]

Whoa must be time for a washout, all the bulls are capitulating:hide:!!!

Having said that i feel for you, my equity curve is not looking too healthy either lately. My system does not make use of this volatility as well as some do manually. My losses are controlled though, and part of the program.

CanOz