Portfolio Update December 2021
A year of steady growth, new lessons, and evolving crypto allocations as the pandemic dragged on into yet another variant.
The final months of 2021 felt like deja vu all over again. It seemed almost identical to the previous year, with yet another variant of the coronavirus still raging on. Financially though, 2021 had been a good year — plenty of new lessons and an exciting period of watching the portfolio slowly grow over time.
⚠️ Some of the more questionable holdings did trigger a few too many capital gain events — a reminder of the tax consequences of portfolio churn. The aim going forward was to minimise those kinds of events in the current taxation year.
⚖️ Allocation Shifts
The target allocation changed a bit during 2021, as the following year’s financial goals were beginning to shift. All bond positions were moved into cash in preparation for upcoming plans.
The current allocation was a bit off target — something to address in the new year through rebalancing.
| Asset Class | Allocation | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 26.97% | 29.00% |
| Emerging Markets | 7.39% | 10.00% |
| US | 16.34% | 25.00% |
| International (non-US) | 11.44% | 10.00% |
| REIT | 5.22% | 5.00% |
| Bonds | 5.38% | 6.00% |
| Gold | 9.60% | 9.00% |
| Crypto | 0.79% | 1.00% |
| Cash | 16.87% | 5.00% |
🪙 The Crypto Corner
The only two cryptocurrencies in the portfolio at that point were Polkadot (DOT) and Ethereum (ETH). On the Ethereum side, the stablecoin USDC was being used for locking in prices. Acala was an interesting project on the radar, though I had not managed to stake anything for it. The plan was to liquidate unstaked DOT positions once the price reached a more favourable range.
The growth of the crypto asset class had been interesting and quite challenging to manage. It remained a small but volatile slice of the overall portfolio.
🔮 Looking Ahead
🎯 With cash sitting well above its target allocation and US equities well below, the priorities for the coming year were clear: rebalance, deploy excess cash into growth assets, and keep an eye on the evolving macro environment.