The month of May seems a little while ago, so I’d better get on and write it up. This will be quick.
The big news in the UK was Rishi Sunak, the outgoing PM, calling a general election for 4 July. Independence-from-the-Tories Day. May was also the month that u-turner/blowharder Nigel Farage also confirmed he wouldn’t be standing in the election himself. A u turn ago, May was, in other words.
I’m sure stuff happened in Gaza (in fact – the Rafah assault, I remember now), and Ukraine (where Russia has been setting the pace) but as of mid June I can’t recall it particularly clearly.
Markets
May saw inflation clearly on the way down, and with that came renewed expectations of interest rate rises. In the UK the Bank of England has been holding a firmer line than other central banks, no doubt not wanting to be seen to be answering the Tory’s prayers, which has helped the GBP. And in the USA, Nvidia continues its rise, even as the AI bubble showed some signs of waning.
The net result was equities rose, particularly in the US, and the GBP strengthened a bit.
The weighted average of the markets I’m in rose by 3.3%, but the currencies of the overseas exposure pulled fell 1.3%. The net was my benchmark rose 1.9%. Against that, my portfolio rose 1.2%. I’m 6% up so far in 2024, and 16% up on a year ago.
Whiskers
I’m within a whisker of my portfolio’s performance exceeding its 2021 peak – on a unitised basis (i.e. correcting for additions/withdrawals).
I’m also within a whisker of my ISAs being worth more than £1m.
But May’s dividends definitely were not the cat’s whiskers. I had something of an income drought in May – dividends were down a bit on the year before. May being poor for income is similar to the last couple of years, but after a strong April it is a bit frustrating. June will be better, with a bunch of ETF quarterly payouts expected.
Media clippings
FIRE v London 