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VALUE INVESTING
High Yield Continues To Do The Business

By Stephen Bland (TMFPyad)
October 1, 2004

This is the latest two-monthly review of my two public high yield portfolios (HYP). I am constructing by monthly instalments a third HYP for readers of my Value Investor newsletter in which nine shares have been selected to date.

HYP1

The estimated value including reinvested income is £91,087, an increase of 21.4% on the original investment in 3.8 years. Equating to a compound 5.2%pa, this is a little ahead of cash.

The portfolio capital is up 4.1% and continues to leave behind the market, the latter having fallen 26.7%. Comparison with trackers on a reinvested income basis would show it to be even more ahead because its yield of over 4% has always been higher than the market.

HYP2

The estimated value including reinvested income is £104,419, an increase of 39.2% on the original investment in 1.5 years. Equating to a compound 24.7%pa, this is way more than cash. Don't expect this exceptionally strong rate of growth to continue though.

The portfolio capital is up 28.8%, slightly more than the market which is up 22.5%. Comparison with trackers on a reinvested income basis would show it to be even more ahead because its 6% yield is substantially over the market yield.

HYP1 start date 13 November 2000 

                               £   orig.   no.  price   val   move
                            invest price  shs.    now   now     % 

Un. Util. (LSE: UU.)         5000   620    807    558  4503   -9.9
Gallaher (LSE: GLH)          5000   416   1190    642  7640  +52.8
Scot. & New. (LSE: SCTN)     5000   490   1010    378  3818  -23.6
Royal & Sun (LSE: RSA)       5000   393   1271     72   915  –81.7
All. & Leic. (LSE: AL.)      5000   645    768    884  6789  +35.8
Britannic (LSE: BRT)         5000  1020    485    395  1916  –61.7
Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY)       5000   705    702    435  3054  -38.9
Intercon. Hotel (LSE: IHG)   2500   380    658    636  4185  +67.4
Mitchells & But(LSE: MAB)    2500   356    691    269  1859  -25.6
Boots (LSE: BOOT)            5000   575    861    640  5510  +10.2
Land Sec. (LSE: LAND)        5000   771    651   1184  7708  +54.2
Ass. Br. Ports (LSE: ABP)    5000   321   1542    442  6816  +36.3
Hilton (LSE: HG.)            5000   232   2275    280  6370  +27.4
Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO)         5000  1120    442   1477  6528  +30.6
Anglo American (LSE: AAL)    5000   942    526   1313  6906  +38.1
Shell (LSE: SHEL)            5000   572    865    408  3529  -29.4

Totals                      75000                     78046   +4.1
FTSE100                    6274.8                    4599.6  -26.7 

Income                             Yield on capital invested %

Year ended 13/11/01 £3,451                   4.6
           13/11/02 £3,474                   4.6
           13/11/03 £3,197                   4.3



HYP2 start date 02 April 2003 £ orig. no. price val move invest price shs. now now % Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) 5000 338 1479 435 6434 +28.7 Scot. & New. (LSE: SCTN) 5000 348 1436 378 5428 +8.6 Dixons (LSE: DXNS) 5000 87 5762 169 9738 +94.8 Un. Util. (LSE: UU.) 5000 546 915 558 5106 +2.1 Hays (LSE: HAS) 5000 78 6435 131 8430 +68.6 Legal & Gen. (LSE: LGEN) 5000 75 6696 100 6696 +33.9 BA Tobacco (LSE: BATS) 5000 580 862 807 6956 +39.1 Brad. & Bing. (LSE: BB.) 5000 297 1685 288 4853 -2.9 Hanson (LSE: HNS) 5000 320 1563 415 6486 +29.7 Land Sec. (LSE: LAND) 5000 736 680 1184 8051 +61.0 The BOC Group (LSE: BOC) 5000 795 628 885 5558 +11.2 BAA (LSE: BAA) 5000 465 1075 558 5998 +20.0 Shell (LSE: SHEL) 5000 394 1271 408 5186 +3.7 AMVESCAP (LSE: AVZ) 5000 311 1609 303 4875 -2.5 Anglo American (LSE: AAL) 5000 970 516 1313 6775 +35.5 Totals 75000 96570 +28.8 FTSE100 3753.4 4599.6 +22.5 Income Yield on capital invested % Year ended 02/04/04 £4,564 6.1

General Comment

Both portfolios are beating the market but the interesting thing is that HYP2 has beaten it during a rise and HYP1 during a fall. This is the case both on the capital alone and even more so on a reinvested dividend basis. However the winning margin is much narrower for HYP2 than HYP1 which is what I would expect. Note that in both cases too little time has elapsed to draw any long-term conclusions though nothing that has happened so far has shaken my faith in this strategy. Quite the reverse in fact.

I am so convinced that HYPs are the way to go for both long-term savers and income investors who are happy with the risks of equities that I have devoted a section of my Value Investor newsletter each month exclusively to the strategy. HYPs have just about everything that such investors seek. Things like, control without the need to interpose a third party like a fund manager or insurer between you and your shares, simplicity, lack of management charges, the ability to switch seamlessly from growth to income without having to realise the investments and so on.

With these kinds of advantages, plus my belief that they will beat the market long term, HYPs win very strongly in my view against alternatives like index tracker funds, equity income funds, pension plans and other institutional investments.

The newsletter HYP has been doing quite well so far though on average it is only a few months old, having started in January 2004 with one new share a month being added. Unlike the public HYPs I feature on TMF which are no-dabble, I am allowing trading with this portfolio, though this will occur only infrequently. I expect to sell shares that are showing large gains coupled with low prevailing yields provided a suitable higher yielding alternative is available. In that way the portfolio realises a gain plus it increases total income.

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Stephen holds shares in Alliance & Leicester, Lloyds, Mitchells & Butlers, Royal & Sun, Scottish & Newcastle and United Utilities.