These are my top stock performers of 2019
We are in the last two weeks of 2019, i.e., the perfect time to not only look forward in terms of stock picks but also to have a look at how my current picks are performing.
Investing is simplest when done in hindsight. Aside from tremendous quantities of money, what do you really get from trying to pick stocks before they make big gains? It’s so much easier to know how successful a stock will be after it already is a hit?
Yet, looking at past performance can be an important part of building a successful strategy that stands the test of time. With that in mind, I want to give you a look at my top-performing stocks. Who knows? Perhaps digging into the top stocks of 2019 will help you pick the right ones for 2020.
This is why I want to go over my personally managed portfolio and have a look at how good 2019 was for my personal portfolio.
Best performing sector
Lynx (using IB) has an interesting tool called portfolio manager. It allows me to draw a report from my portfolio and analyse various metrics. One of these is my stocks’ sectors performance against the S&P 500.
Before looking into specific stocks or trackers I want to look at how each sector performed against the S&P500 which is the index to beat this year with an amazing return of almost 30%! The result looks like this:
Based on the image above it’s clear that there are two sectors that clearly outperformed the S&P500. those are Real estate, so my REITs and “Unclassified” which means my ETFs.
It’s important to note that the other sectors are underperforming based on their contribution to my portfolio, not so much their absolute return this year. All but one –Ubisoft Entertainment (Ticker:UBI1)– did exceptionally well, though this was a ‘grand cru’ year for stocks in general.
My best stocks of 2019
Having taken a look at the best performing sectors of my portfolio, now I want to compare my stocks and see which one stood out this year. Once again I use the information from the generated report.
First, I want to go over how my individual picks performed, then have a look at my trackers, and finally see which of stocks in my portfolio contributed the most to my portfolio’s growth.
Top 5 stocks by individual performance
The tool doesn’t give a cool graph of the individual return so I’ll have to make due with a table. Below you can find the top 5 best performers in my portfolio. From the report, I can easily see which individual stock made the most percentage gain over the year. Yes, I know, the year technically isn’t over yet, but with Christmas and New Year’s around the corner, I doubt much will change.
Individual stocks
| Ticker | Description | Sector | Return (%) | Unrealized profit (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVDA | Nvidia Corp. | Technology | 82.41 | 124.12 |
| BABA | Alibaba Group Holding | Technology | 58.07 | 195.81 |
| AED | Aedifica | Real Estate | 49.45 | 738.86 |
| HOMI | Home Invest Belgium | Real Estate | 28.53 | 209.17 |
| COFB | Cofinimmo | Real Estate | 21.21 | 172.90 |
While I don’t have a lot of individual stocks, I do have a small mix. In this mix, it’s clear that one sector sticks out: real estate. The Belgian real estate sector really blossomed this year.
This year, they are among the best performers on the Brussels stock exchange. Healthcare real estate even gained ~50%. On average the REIT sector gained 26.9% in 2019 (Nille & De Rijcke, 2019). Aedifica is not only the best performer in my portfolio, but also on the Belgian stock exchange. It’s also a literally expanding by looking outside Belgium with purchases in Germany, the UK, and more recently, Finland (although this is still in progress).
I can only hope for a continuation of this strong performance, not only in real estate but all my other sectors as well.
Trackers (/ETFs)
This table gives an interesting view. Because I have them ordered by percentage gain, the first top contributor to my portfolio is not in this list: CSPX. The reason is simple; it’s the 6th best gainer, so it didn’t make the list, but since has a higher weight, it contributed a lot more.
| Ticker | Description | Return (%) | Unrealized profit (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| RBOT | Ishares Automation & Robotics | 41.32 | 178.72 |
| DX2Ja | MSCI Europe Small Cap | 31.66 | 102.31 |
| SBIO | Invesco Nasdaq Biotech | 30.55 | 118.45 |
| CSX5 | iShares Core Euro Stoxx 50 | 29.31 | 50.95 |
| CEUS | Ishares MSCI EMU Small-cap ACC | 28.30 | 37.77 |
Top 5 Contributors
The generated report might not give a cool graph for my best performers but what is sweet about this tool, is that I see how much each stock contributed to the gain of my overall portfolio.
A picture says more than a thousand words. Thanks to a solid amount of shares in Aedifica, this REIT is also the top contributor for my portfolio.
CSPX is a close second eventhough it’s individual gain isn’t the best in my portfolio.
Overall, I can’t complain at all this year, but I think goes for everyone that didn’t sell their stocks when things got a bit rougher with the trials caused by the US-China trading issues.
I eagerly await next year and can only hope it brings me as much joy as this year.
I want to close with a final picture. Below you see the YTD performance of my personally managed portfolio compared to the most prominent indices.
and VT.
Sources:
- Nille, J., & De Rijcke, C. (2019, November 15). Vastgoed presteert helft beter dan Bel20 in 2019. Retrieved from https://www.tijd.be/markten-live/nieuws/aandelen-brussel/vastgoed-presteert-helft-beter-dan-bel20-in-2019/10182225.