2023 Portfolio Review

What goes up must come down.

And my portfolio ended 2023 in the red.

But not for the reasons you might think.

In a world where everybody picks winning investments all the time, I wanted to share a realistic look at why I underperformed. And why long-term investing isn’t always a straightforward journey.

What Dragged The Portfolio Down?

Every month, I publicly discuss three stocks I’m buying.

I explain my purchases, what makes the stock appealing, and long-term dividend growth potential.

With the exception of McCormick & Company and Flowers Foods (a position purchased entirely with credit card rewards points), every investment ended the year green.

One stock (Advanced Drainage Systems) almost doubled in value.

And the single largest stock position I purchased this year, American Express, is up over 23% from my buy-in price point.

I’m not bringing this up to make excuses or cope with underperforming the market, but to highlight an important concept that 99.99% of investment material never covers…

Your total returns are dictated by everything you own.

People love to talk about buy-and-hold investing or how they’ll never sell a position. And that’s great. But your long-term winners can face setbacks that drag your whole portfolio down with them. Be prepared.

In my case, this was healthcare and REITs. As well as blue-chip, international food conglomerates.

Some of my largest stock positions include: AbbVie, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Realty Income.

All of these stocks are down considerably.

The recent market rally has mitigated some of these loses. But Bristol-Myers Squibb is still down -29.12%, year-to-date. And Archer-Daniels-Midland is down -19.50%.

Is this terrible?

In the short-term, for an end-of-year portfolio review, yes.

In the long-term, no.

With the exception of Bristol-Myers Squibb, all these stocks are up since I first bought them.