Picture supply: Getty Photos
Most of my portfolio is invested in particular person UK shares however I even have publicity to the US through the Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF.
I purchase particular person FTSE 100 firms within the hope of producing extra dividends and progress than I’d earn by merely monitoring the index, however I don’t really feel so assured about shopping for particular person US shares. Therefore the tracker.
I do maintain one UK tracker, the Vanguard UK All-Share Index Unit Belief, which I purchased after transferring some legacy firm schemes right into a self-invested private pension (SIPP).
This gave me prompt inventory market publicity whereas I set in regards to the job of populating my SIPP with UK shares. My timing was good because the FTSE All-Share dipped after I purchased my tracker on 7 July. Up to now I’m up 16.45%.
Ought to I maintain monitoring the FTSE All-Share?
I’m happy with that, however I’m even happier with the Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF, which I purchased on 22 September final 12 months. It’s up 33.24%.
As a benchmark, the FTSE All-Share is up 9.03% over 12 months whereas the S&P 500 is up 35.54% over the identical interval.
This isn’t stunning. The US inventory market accommodates essentially the most thrilling firms on this planet, led by Magnificent Seven tech giants like Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft. But this stellar previous efficiency makes me cautious.
As we speak, the S&P 500 trades at a hefty price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16. That’s greater than double the FTSE All-Share’s modest P/E of 14.2.
Making this commerce would contain promoting low and shopping for excessive, after I usually attempt to do the alternative. So right here’s what I’m going to do as a substitute.
I’ll nonetheless promote my FTSE All-Share tracker. Why? As a result of I’m totally invested and wish some money. And the final 18 months have proven that my largest successes have come not from trackers however particular person UK shares.
For instance, shares in Simply Group (LSE: JUST) are up 70.25% since I purchased the FTSE 250 insurer nearly one 12 months in the past. I discovered that notably gratifying as a result of I ran the rule fastidiously over the inventory earlier than buying it.
The Simply Group share worth crashed in July 2018 after a Prudential Regulation Authority session into the fairness launch market pressured the board to put aside further capital to cowl its lifetime mortgage merchandise.
Simply Group shares are beating the US index
The session fizzled out, as consultations usually do. But the Simply share worth did not spark into life. So I took my probability.
In August it posted a bumper first-half with a 44% enhance in underlying working revenue to £249m, amid stronger new enterprise gross sales, elevated recurring income, and improved operational effectivity. The Simply stability sheet seems to be stable with a capital protection ratio of 196%.
As with each inventory, there are dangers. Simply Group sells annuities, and gross sales have spiked as rising rates of interest imply they pay extra earnings. As soon as charges fall, gross sales might reverse. The inventory has a low trailing yield of simply 1.51% and dividends have been patchy, as this chart exhibits.
Chart by TradingView
Simply nonetheless seems to be extremely low cost, with a price-to-earnings ratio of simply 4.88. I’d fairly use the proceeds from my FTSE All-Share tracker sale to purchase nice worth UK shares like this one, than a probably overpriced S&P 500 tracker.
