Thread by @saxena_puru

1) Portfolio summary - Jan-end

$AYX $BABA $CRWD $DOCU $ESTC $FB $GSX $LK $LVGO $MELI $OCFT $PIAHY $PINS $PYPL $ROKU $SE $SPCE $SQ $STNE $TAL $TCEHY $TWLO $ZS

Return since 1 Jan '19 (when I began posting here) -

Portfolio +35.11%
$ACWI +21.82%
$SPX +28.67%

Contd..

2) YTD return -

Portfolio +19.26%
$ACWI (-)1.38%
$SPX (-)0.16%

US/int'l exposure unhedged, China hedges currently in place

Portfolio activity -

New positions - $CRWD $OCFT
Closed positions - $AMZN $GOOGL $WORK

Contd...

3) Commentary -

My portfolio has started the year with a bang but this is primarily due to a catch up move after last autumn's severe pounding of growth stocks.

Most of my growth names got smoked last autumn and at one point, the selling became quite frantic; as is usually...

4)...the case at emotional extremes.

I must admit that when my portfolio was lagging the indices by a country mile last autumn, it was quite embarrassing but I knew that my high-quality companies would recover in time.

So, I stuck to my process and began initiating...

5)...positions in the hyper-growth software companies; businesses which I'd been eyeing for years but had avoided due to extreme froth/greed.

Going against the herd and buying fear wasn't easy and on days, I doubted my own sanity but the rational part of my brain knew that...

6)...these weren't broken companies (they were out of favour stocks). So, I loaded up on these software companies when everyone was running for the hills.

Fast forward to 2020; thanks to the ongoing bond buying by both the ECB and the Fed; and the signing of the Phase 1...

7)....Trade Deal, the growth space came back to life and my portfolio rallied sharply.

During the past month, I picked up shares of $OCFT and $CRWD and in order to raise cash, closed out my positions in $AMZN $GOOGL and $WORK

Don't get me wrong; I continue to believe...

8)...that $AMZN and $GOOGL are fantastic businesses but I want to concentrate on the higher growth/younger horses which are earlier in their life cycle, which explains my investments in $CRWD and $OCFT.

IMO both $CRWD and $OCFT are excellent companies and should compound...

9)...their cash flows, earnings and revenues for many years.

In my view, both businesses provide mission-critical services to corporate and enterprise customers; their products are quite sticky and their growth rates are just fantastic! Thus, I reluctantly decided to exit...

10)...my positions in $AMZN $GOOGL $WORK to raise cash.

I've stated this before but will say it again - in my view, SaaS is a very robust business model - where else can one find monster growth, sticky products, recurring revenues, corporate customers and very high margins?...

11)...Of course, all this isn't lost on the market and this is why these companies continue to trade at what appear to be absurd valuations!

SaaS is like utilities on steroids - predictable/recurring revenue coupled with surreal growth!

Elsewhere, my Chinese holdings...

12)....also had a strong start to the year but that was later tempered down by the genuinely concerning spread of coronavirus.

Fortunately, my hedges kicked in at the start of the sell-off and mitigated my drawdown - at this stage, I don't know when the selling might end but...

13)...do know that this scary virus won't derail China's long-term economic outlook. Therefore, around 35% of my portfolio is still invested in Chinese companies and in my view, they appear to be trading at very favourable valuations.

Thats about it. I continue to own...

14)...shares in a bunch of world-class companies and believe that their operating results will produce alpha for my portfolio over the long run.

For sure, the journey will not be smooth and there will be big DDs and recessions along the way but they won't matter.

The end.