Update No. 169 – 28/06/14

Our share price is measured over the final five days of the financial year (as set out in the ‘Investment Principles’ document), to ensure any lumpiness in some of our less liquid holdings is smoothed out, preventing some of the ‘end of month’ manipulation some funds appear prone to.

As such, 80% of the value of the final figure is captured in the data in the table below. This means that if the EGP share-price spikes 2% on Monday (the last day of the financial year) for some reason, the reported price will only move up by 0.4%.

Given we are neck and neck with the benchmark, with a lead of 2 hundredths of a percent, it basically means that if the market fall sharply Monday, we will almost certainly beat the benchmark for the period, but if it rises by a decent amount, we are destined to suffer our first ever period of underperformance.

Something I have spent an unusual amount of time thinking about (for someone under forty at least) is my estate. I fully expect to generate a fairly sizeable one, but am reluctant to distribute very much of it to my heirs. I know myself the enjoyment that comes from being primarily responsible for your own success and financial position. I suspect that many people who generate large estates don’t carefully consider the potential harm to their heirs of having very large ‘unearned’ fortunes passed on to them.

I was given to think about this topic again this week when I read an article indicating ageing rocker Sting does not expect to leave very much of his fortune (estimated at $300m) to his children. He says:

 

“Obviously, if they were in trouble I would help them, but I’ve never really had to do that. They have the work ethic that makes them want to succeed on their own merit.”

 

Stings method of deploying his large fortune (apparently he has over 100 people in his employ) do not appeal to me, but the sentiment of the ethic behind it I very much agree with.

I have long been concerned that I have been ‘too’ financially supportive of my own children. I believe there is a very fine line between setting a sense of entitlement and fostering the maximum from your children’s potential.

Fears have been somewhat allayed in 2014. My eldest son started full-time employment this year and it is just dawning on him the pleasure of having cash of your own available, and building a meaningful savings pool. He has already roughly doubled his net worth in the first 6 months of 2014 through diligent saving, I would hazard he will at least triple his net worth in 2014, a feat I can confidently predict I will never again do. Compounding is so rewarding from a low base. The enjoyment he gets from the small asset pool he has built for himself, I can confidently say he would not get/have gotten were I to gift him a set of assets five times that size.

If the next two children jump out of the blocks in the same way, I won’t have to worry about leaving any estate behind, they will probably have so much of their own money they’ll have no desire for mine. We certainly are the lucky country… – Tony Hansen 28/06/2014

 

Apr 1st 2011

Jan 1st 2014

Current Price

Current Period

Since Inception

EGP Fund No. 1

1.00000

1.60232

1.56643*1

4.00%

70.87%*2

S&PASX200TR

35632.05

44635.11

46411.51

3.98%

30.25%

EGP Fund No. 1 Pty Ltd. Up by 4.00%, leading the benchmark by 0.02% since January 1st. Since inception, EGP Fund No. 1 Pty Ltd is Up by 70.87%, leading the benchmark by 40.62% all-time (April 1st 2011).

*1 after 31May 2013 dividend of 2.333 cents per share plus 1.000 cent per share Franking Credit & 31 May 2014 Dividend of 7.000 cents per share plus 3.000 cent per share Franking Credit

*2 calculated based on dividends reinvested