My 2025 Year-End Portfolio Performance
Introduction
“The world belongs to optimists, because if you’re going to do anything big, you have to believe it’s going to happen. Otherwise, it never will.”
—Alex Hormozi
This quote was my phone wallpaper throughout 2025. Not as a declaration of confidence or boldness, but as a reminder to return to the main road whenever I found myself drifting. And oftentimes, those wrong turns don’t start with actions. They start with thoughts of pessimism, discontent, weariness, and a loss of direction.
Left unchecked, they compound. Slowly at first. Then painfully and unreasonably unbearable.
The truth is, we’re not born optimists. Human beings are naturally doubtful. That’s how we’ve survived for over 200,000 years. But survival alone isn’t enough. To survive well is to find meaning.
That meaning can take many forms: a service, a craft, a pursuit worth suffering for. Personally, I find meaning in being of service to others, especially when it aligns with who I truly am.
You might be wondering why I am writing something that seems disconnected from what is meant to be a year-end portfolio performance.
It’s simple. I want to tell you that:
- Money doesn’t equal meaning.
- Money, by itself, is not happiness.
There comes a point—no matter how much wealth you accumulate—where money alone feels hollow. Without purpose, it’s just paper. Or worse, just numbers on a screen.
Money is a tool. One that should support your life and allow you to help others. I’ve always reminded myself of that.
This past year, I went back through my financial diary—every entry on income, expenses, investments, and savings. I wasn’t looking for returns. I was looking for reasons. Why I started working for money in the first place.
Because I had grown weary of the cycle. Working for the sake of money. Everyone relates to this because only a few truly work in line with their true calling and gifts.
And then it became clear.
Patterns in my spending showed me something important: I am building. I’ve just been putting too much pressure on myself.
A few more reps. A bit more patience. More focus on what actually matters—pursuing what is truly meaningful.
You won’t always stay level-headed, but you can remain optimistic if you stay connected to why you started.
Never lose sight. Never lose faith.
That’s how my financial journal helped me through 2025.
This introduction may sound heavy, but I needed that year to happen. I’ve accepted it fully. And now, we step into 2026.
Before moving forward, I want to share the financial fortress I’ve been building not purely for money’s sake, but to encourage others to do the same.
- Earn intentionally.
- Save prudently.
- Invest for the long term.
- Spend generously on what truly matters.
- And most importantly, document the journey by creating your own financial diary.
Because only then can you see where you are, where you want to be, and how to bridge the two.
Without further ado, let me take you through my 2025 year-end portfolio performance.
Personal Financial Tracker by ELMads
The image above is my personal finance tracker, built in Excel.
It tracks income, expenses, investments, savings, and debt, all in one streamlined dashboard. It’s more than a planning tool; it’s a reflection of my financial decisions over time. Put simply, it’s a diary written in numbers instead of words.
Since 2023, my main Key Performance Indicator (KPI) had been the Net Worth-to-Expenses Ratio. It answers one simple question:
How many years could my net worth sustain me if I stopped working today?
Recently, I changed that KPI to “Portfolio Growth vs Earnings and Consumption.”
Why? Because it shows something more practical: how my portfolio is growing relative to both my income and my spending.
There are a lot of reasons why people invest their hard-earned income such as:
- To beat inflation
- To supplement savings
- To fund retirement
- To start a business
- To pay for education
At its core, investing is setting aside a part of today’s income to grow into something meaningful in the future.
Yet in finance, we often hear statements like:
- “My portfolio grew 15% this year.”
- “I beat the S&P 500 over five years.”
For most people, that means very little. It’s like hearing a conversation in Latin. Technically impressive, but practically irrelevant for everyone.
Unlike abstract return figures, my Portfolio Growth vs Earnings and Consumption KPI puts performance into a real-life context.
It shows:
- How net worth compares to income and expenses
- How income and spending change year-on-year
- Whether wealth is growing faster than lifestyle
Looking at my year-on-year data:
- ⬇️Gross income declined by 5.7%
- ⬆️Consumption increased by 39.5%
- ⬆️Net worth grew by 23.1%
- Net worth is now 4× my 2025 gross income
- Net worth is now 6.9× my 2025 consumption
What does this mean? Despite earning less and spending more, my net worth still grew significantly. That’s a positive signal.
However, it also highlights a risk that if my expenses continue to rise while income stagnates, which means that I would have less money to allocate for savings and investments as the gap between income and expenses closes in.
This is the practical side of my tracker. It tells me what has happened, not what I wished had happened.
But hey, remember, life is not just about saving money and investing—extreme frugality. It’s about spending intentionally. Spend freely on what truly matters to you. Then ruthlessly cut what doesn’t.
As Bill Perkins aptly said:
“The key takeaway is to strike the right balance between spending on the present—only on what you value—and saving smartly for the future.”
Expenses Focus
Finding the right balance between spending, saving, and investing money is an arduous task. Most of the time, you’ll get it wrong. And that’s okay, because we’re human.
Our priorities change. We’re driven by emotions, wants, and needs.
Every year, I use my tracker to review and reflect on the financial decisions I’ve made for my family. It helps both financially and emotionally.
Emotionally, because every entry is a memory. Each line reminds me of a specific point in time:
- Why did I make that purchase?
- What was happening then?
- What was I feeling?
- Looking back, did it make sense, or was it just a whim?
These questions help me see clearly what worked and what didn’t.
It all started with simply recording my expenses. Over time, it became a diary—not of words, but of numbers. And like any diary, it captured my emotions and my train of thought at that moment in time.
This year marked the largest annual expense I’ve ever had in my life. 😂
What caused it, you ask? My top five expense categories say it all.
Rent remains number one. I say “remains” because it has held that spot every single year since 2018.
What followed didn’t surprise me either. I already knew this would happen the moment my wife and I obtained our citizenship in October 2024.
My travel expenses ballooned like there was no tomorrow. Travel climbed to second place. Just a year ago, it sat in third position in my 2024 total consumption.
But hey, I enjoyed it.
And surprisingly, this increase in travel budget spent unintentionally added a new goal to my writing and financial list. It led to the creation of my Stock Stop Series.
So far, I’ve written five blogs about the five different countries my wife and I visited in 2025.
At first, I hated travelling. I thought it was an utter waste of time and money until my wife proved me wrong. As she always does. 😅😆
Now here I am, being pulled across different countries by my wife. Travelling further, prioritising her happiness, and at the same time exploring my deep interests in finance, history, money, and power.
Click on the link below to find out more about this in my Stock Stop Series: Where Travel Meets Financial Powerhouses and Stock Exchanges.
Looking back at my expenses, I can confidently say this:
I lived 2025 the way I wanted to live it.
Not influenced by how others were spending. Not driven by comparison.
It was a 2025 lived well, fully aligned with my wife’s and my interests.
To continue to live a life with meaning and purpose.
Without breaking the bank.
While making sure to cover our short, medium, and long-term financial needs.
Living a modest life on our own terms.
📝 Note: The chart above only reflects my personal expenses. It does not include my wife’s consumption expenses.
Two Ratios That Ground Me
- Net Worth-to-Income Ratio
→ How many years I could live based on last year’s income - Net Worth-to-Expenses Ratio
→ How many years I could live based on my actual lifestyle
This has put money in a more relatable and practical manner in relation to life. It is also applicable to everyone. A way of tracking one’s financial circumstances to their net worth in a clear and more personal way.
This way of framing money first dawned on me in 2017, which I later shared in my book ‘Zero to Hero—The Rookie Investor’s Manifesto: Building Your Wealth From The Ground Up Through Stock Market Investing’.
“To his astonishment, he made a 70% return on his total invested money. From 2013 to 2015, he invested a total amount of ₱38,400 (€550 / $869); at the end of 2017, his portfolio was worth ₱65,147.03 (£936 / $1,292).
He made ₱26,747.03 (£386 / $423) by just investing a small portion of his measly salary and reinvesting the dividend income he received from the company shares he owned over the past 4 years…
He found himself astonished by his investment gains, realizing they equated to the earnings of two and a half months of dedicated nursing work. While it took four years to accumulate this wealth, he came to understand that investing isn’t solely about money making more money, but also about buying more time for yourself.
This realization was profound; it wasn’t just about the numbers in his investment account, but about the freedom and flexibility that financial growth could offer. With each dividend earned and every uptick in his portfolio value, what he saw was not just dollars and cents, but moments reclaimed, opportunities seized, and a path to a future where time was his to spend as he chose.
‘Like Warren, I had a considerable passion to get rich, not because I wanted Ferraris – I wanted independence. I desperately wanted it.’ – Charlie Munger”
Net Worth Breakdown
In my 2023 report, I broke down my net worth into five categories: Cash, Equity Index Funds, Individual Equities, Retirement Accounts, and Alternative Investments. Looking back, I realised that all of these essentially fall under the financial wealth umbrella.
This year, I decided to take a more formal and structured approach.
Starting with this report, I’ll be using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) framework, which categorises UK household wealth into four main types:
- Net property wealth
- Net financial wealth
- Physical wealth
- Private pension wealth
To anchor this in real data, NimbleFins.co.uk published figures on average UK household wealth using the same ONS categories. They define it as follows:
“The typical UK household has £293,700 in total wealth—this figure represents the median total wealth figure, meaning half of households have less than this amount and half of household have more. Total wealth is composed of four different types of wealth:
• Financial wealth (net): The value of financial assets held including formal investments (e.g., current or saving accounts, investment vehicles such as ISAs, endowments, stocks and shares) and informal savings.
• Physical wealth: The self-reported value of owned household contents, possessions and valuables, including antiques, art, collections and any vehicles owned by individuals.
• Private pension wealth: The value of pension pots already accrued that are not state basic retirement or state earning related, including occupational pensions, personal pensions, retained rights in previous pensions and pensions in payment.
• Property wealth (net): The self-reported value of any property owned, including a main residence plus any other land or property owned in the UK or abroad.”
The table and stacked column chart shown above are based on this ONS data, compiled by NimbleFins. I’ve simply expressed each category as a percentage of total wealth, rather than absolute values.
https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/savings-accounts/average-household-savings-uk#wealthbyage
Now let’s look at my own column—ELM.
My Net Worth Allocation
As shown in the chart above:
- 73% of my net worth is financial wealth
- 27% is private pension wealth
- 0% physical wealth
- 0% property wealth
This allocation is intentional.
My financial wealth consists of cash savings and equity investments that are highly liquid. This means, they can be converted into cash within one to five days. Every pound saved or invested here has a purpose, tied to my and my family’s short-, medium-, and long-term goals.
In simple terms: I know I will still be spending money throughout my life. So I structure my money to cover each time horizon.
For that reason, I deliberately prioritise liquidity in my financial wealth.
Cash and Short-Term Money
The cash portion of my financial wealth sits in an easy-access savings account. I don’t chase the highest interest rate available at all times. Constantly opening and closing accounts, or managing several at once, costs time and mental energy.
For money that I expect to spend within three years (funds for emergency, rainy-days, travel and other more). The goal isn’t to maximise returns, it’s accessibility and certainty. A “good enough” interest rate is enough.
If my goal is to grow money over a longer time horizon—three years or more—then that capital belongs in bonds and equities, not cash.
This mindset reminds me of Ramit Sethi’s quote:
“Stop asking $3 questions. Stop focusing on $3 coffee. Start asking $30,000 questions.”
Most people obsess over small decisions while ignoring the big ones, What he meant by this is we mostly sweat about small stuff, when we should focus on the big stuff, such as student loans, mortgage and car loans, rather than whether you can spend money on a $3 coffee today or not.
I think the same applies to savings rates. I don’t sweat marginal differences on savings account interest rates. I focus on medium- and long-term strategy.
Private Pension Wealth
My private pension wealth is exactly that retirement money.
This capital is locked away until at least age 57—based on most retirement accounts in the UK—and realistically serves a time horizon of 25 years or more. Because of that, it makes sense for it to be a smaller proportion of my total net worth compared to my financial wealth.
It has a very specific job. And it does that job well.
Why I Exclude Physical Wealth
You might be wondering why I don’t include physical wealth in my net worth.
The honest answer? Psychology.
I could include it to make my net worth more “complete,” but I choose not to because it distorts how I perceive my actual financial position.
I operate with a personal bias:
The moment I buy something physical, I mentally write its value down to zero.
My phone, laptop, watches, gadgets—yes, they may have resale or scrap value. But I don’t see them as stores of wealth. I see them as tools and experiences that help me live and express who I am.
If I want my money to grow, I don’t buy things.
I buy equities and bonds.
That mental separation keeps me grounded.
However, if we’re talking about collectables that I plan to resell, then I would include them in this category.
Why I Don’t Have Property Wealth (Yet)
I also don’t have any property wealth. I am still a renter, and I’m completely okay and comfortable with that.
And no, I don’t believe renting is “throwing money away.”
If you rent and invest the difference—what would have gone toward a mortgage, maintenance, insurance, and other ownership costs—you’re still building wealth, just in a different form.
I’ll buy a home when I’m ready, not because property prices are rising or because of social pressure.
I’m fortunate to have a strong interest in finance, and my equity investments have substantially outpaced UK property growth. That gives me the confidence to step away from the cultural narrative that says you must buy a home as soon as possible, or else you’re falling behind.
A home should be a blessing, not a financial burden or a rushed decision.
Primarily, I don’t have any property wealth because I’m not ready to buy a home, nor am I compelled to own one.
In time, I’ll own one. But not yet, and that’s intentional.
So that’s my net worth, structured using the ONS UK wealth categories.
My net worth breakdown reminds me where I am, why my money is structured this way, and how it supports the life I want to live.
What comes next is the engine of my net worth growth. I wouldn’t be where I am financially without it, and that’s my equity investments.
ELM Portfolio Performance vs Different Asset Class Benchmark Since 2013
At first glance, the table above can look intimidating. If that’s how you feel, don’t worry, because I will walk through it step-by-step.
The table compares five different outcomes:
- My Portfolio (ELM)
- Equities
- Property
- Savings Account
- Inflation
Why do this comparison?
First, to see how my portfolio performed relative to commonly used financial instruments in the UK.
Second, to highlight the long-term consequences of concentrating wealth in just one asset class.
Diversification isn’t just a theory, it shows up clearly when you place numbers side by side over time.
Below, I’ll walk you through each of my chosen benchmarks, the reason why I chose it and the data source behind it, starting with equities.
The Four Columns Explained
Equities
Equities are the youngest among the major asset classes of cash, bonds, equities, property, and commodities.
They were formally introduced in 1602, with the founding of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam.
Despite being the youngest, equities have been among the most powerful wealth-building tools in history, especially for those who understand them. Today, they’re also more accessible than ever.
For the equity benchmark, I used:
FTSE All-World UCITS ETF – Accumulation
Why use this ETF?
Because my own portfolio is globally diversified. I own shares of businesses across Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States. Using a global equity benchmark simply makes sense.
Property
Property is one of the oldest and most emotionally charged asset classes.
Across the UK, it’s also the most dominant. The average Brit has around 40% of their net worth tied to property.
But times have changed. Buying a home today is not what it was 60 years ago. Property prices have grown far faster than incomes, forcing many into decades-long debt just to secure their dream of owning a home.
I do want to own a home when I’m ready. Today, it’s not a priority for me.
For me, owning a home is primarily a lifestyle choice, not a wealth-building tool to help me reach my financial goals. As the table above clearly shows, choosing to rent and invest the difference in equities has been the right decision so far. The numbers support it.
The home can come later. When I’m ready, not when I feel pressured.
This is why I really resonate with J.L. Collins’ point about homeownership, which Steven Bartlett summed up perfectly on the Diary of a CEO podcast:
“J.L. Collins’ point isn’t don’t buy a house. It’s don’t confuse a lifestyle choice with a guaranteed financial investment.”
That distinction matters. When you separate lifestyle decisions from financial objectives, clarity follows, and better decisions tend to come with it.
For now, I’m watching how property prices evolve relative to my equity-heavy portfolio. If my investments continue to outpace property growth, which I project that it will, I may one day buy a home with outright cash, not needing a mortgage. 😉😉😉
That’s why I included property as a benchmark.
The data used here comes from the Office for National Statistics (ONS):
UK House Price Index: Monthly Price Statistics
This dataset spans decades and includes regional breakdowns. Interestingly, Northern Ireland has been the fastest-growing property market in the UK from 2013 to present.
Savings Accounts
Savings accounts serve a purpose, just not for long-term growth.
I personally use savings accounts for short-term needs, typically anything within three years. Liquidity matters more than returns in that timeframe.
So why include savings accounts as a benchmark?
To show what happens when money meant for long-term goals is left in cash.
The historical rates used here come from National Savings & Investments (NS&I), the UK’s state-owned savings bank. Unlike commercial banks, NS&I exists primarily to fund the government by borrowing money from the public (savers like us).
Their historical rate data is publicly available and reliable.
https://www.nsandi.com/historical-interest-rates
Inflation
Inflation is the silent force behind all investing decisions.
It represents the gradual erosion of purchasing power. The reason why “doing nothing” with money is often the riskiest choice of all.
For inflation, I used CPIH (Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs).
Unlike the standard Consumer Price Index (CPI), CPIH includes:
- Housing costs
- Council tax
- Ownership-related expenses
In my view, it’s a better representative measure of real-life inflation compared to others inflation benchmarks in the UK, such as Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Retail Price Index (RPI).
More about UK’s inflation data on the ONS website below.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices
How to Interpret the Table
Now that we’ve covered and defined the data I use, it’s time to make this practical.
Imagine five friends — Warren, Charlie, Jack, Peter, and Edward — each starting 2013 with £250,000 in cash.
Here’s what they did:
- Warren entrusted his money to my portfolio
- Charlie invested in the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRP)
- Jack bought a home in the UK
- Peter, risk-averse, placed his money in a NS&I direct savers savings account
- Edward left his money in a standard bank account earning no interest
Fast forward to the end of 2025:
- ELM Portfolio (Warren): £896,466
- Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF (Charlie): £944,768
- UK Average Property (Jack): £433,797
- NS&I Savings (Peter): £306,892
- Cash, no interest (Edward): remains at £250,000
But here’s the catch.
Once inflation is accounted for, Edward’s £250,000 has lost roughly 32% of its purchasing power.
In real terms, it now buys what £170,000 could buy in 2013.
From a long-term, purely financial perspective:
- Equities dominated
- Cash and property lagged significantly
- Inflation punished inaction
Both my portfolio and a simple, low-cost global ETF produced superior long-term outcomes.
This performance can be attributed to luck, but we also should consider that this is the asset class behaviour, in action, over time.
You might be wondering why I started my data in 2013. Simple. That’s when I started my investment journey.
One final point.
If the purpose of investing is to beat inflation, then performance should always be assessed after inflation. Real returns are what actually matter.
Below is a chart showing the real (inflation-adjusted) returns of my portfolio alongside the different asset class benchmarks since 2013, including a time series line graph.
Investment Portfolio Philosophy
Finally! You’ve built an Atlas capable of holding your financial world.
Wealth built thoughtfully and intentionally, over time, weathers storms not because of brilliance, but because of dedication and patience.
I consider myself a high-risk taker by nature. I’m willing to take meaningful swings on investments I understand and personally perceive as predictable, while allocating only a small, portion of my hard-earned money to ideas I want exposure to but cannot predict with high certainty.
That philosophy shows clearly in my portfolio allocation, as represented by Atlas.
The Legs — The Foundation
The legs are the strongest muscles in the human body. They carry weight. They provide balance.
In my portfolio, this is my index mutual funds and index ETFs.
They are the no-brainer allocation. They support everything else.
They bear the weight of the body and whatever it tries to lift.
- Allocation size: 50%-60% of my total portfolio.
The Core — Stability and Power
The core connects the upper and lower body. It stabilises movement and amplifies strength.
This represents my ownership in mature, consistently growing businesses.
6 pack abs with mighty 6 stock positions. Strong. Reliable. Durable. These holdings stabilise my portfolio and connect my foundation with my higher-risk positions.
- Allocation size: 40%-30% of my total portfolio.
The Arms — Exploration and Upside
The arms allow us to reach, explore, and feel the world. To feel is to experience, and that’s exactly what my speculative investments are for.
If it fails, the downside is controlled in a way that I only allocated a small portion of my capital pool. If it succeeds, the upside can be limitless.
For example, the maximum loss in a £1,000 investment is £1,000, while the possible gain can be hundredth thousand or more.
The maximum you can lose, is your whole invested capital, but the maximum gain is boundless.
This is where growth can surprise you.
- Allocation size: <10% of my total portfolio.
I’ve summarised this entire structure in the pyramid image below.
A portfolio built to stand, stabilise, and reach. A pyramid structure that has a small probability of collapsing under its own ambition.
My Entire Portfolio & Changes in Holdings
If you compare my 2024 year-end portfolio with my 2025 holdings, you’ll immediately notice several changes. I sold some positions, added new ones, and restructured parts of my portfolio.
📝 Note: You can read my 2024 year-end portfolio by clicking the link below.
In this section, I’ll walk you through what I changed, why I did it, and what I learned along the way.
Vanguard — The Boring Backbone
My Vanguard brokerage account is dedicated purely to index mutual funds and ETFs.
Here, I follow a pound-cost averaging approach—investing regularly every payday regardless of market conditions or prices.
No tinkering. No timing. and I haven’t made any changes to my holdings.
This account continues to do exactly what it’s designed to do: quietly compound in the background.
Nest — My Employment Pension
Nest is my workplace pension. My contributions are automatically deducted straight from my gross salary every payday.
Unlike Vanguard, this account was opened by my employer when I started working with the business.
I remain invested in one fund only, which is the Nest Sharia Fund. It allocates roughly 70% to global equities and 30% to bonds.
I wrote about this last year, but it’s worth repeating:
check where your workplace pension is invested.
Why do this? Most people don’t know. Sometimes, a few clicks on your employer pension will give you a massive difference between a mediocre and substantial long-term gains. Amounting to thousands to tens of thousands of pounds.
With 25+ years until retirement, I moved my pension from a default Nest retirement-date fund to a higher-growth option—The Nest Sharia Fund.
What was the result? Thousands of pounds more than if I hadn’t moved funds.
COL Financial — Philippines Portfolio
I didn’t sell any Philippine stocks in 2025.
However, I added one new position: Ginebra San Miguel Inc. (GSMI)
GSMI manufactures and sells spirits and beverages and is a wholly owned subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation. Its shares trade on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
This was a deliberate addition, steady business, strong brand, and deeply embedded in our local drinking culture and consumption.
Performance-wise, my Philippine equity portfolio outperformed the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) by a wide margin in local currency terms (PHP):
- ELM Portfolio — 16.82%
- Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) — (-7.29%)
However, these returns are in Philippine Pesos (PHP). Because I earn, live, and spend in British Pounds (GBP), I must adjust for currency effects.
In 2025, the Philippine Peso depreciated by 8.32% against the British Pound. This means every Peso I earned was worth less when converted back to my home currency.
After adjusting for the GBP/PHP rate, my 2025 Philippine portfolio returned 7.85% in GBP terms. This effectively cut my “headline” return in half.
Here is the long-term impact. The table below compares my returns in Philippine Pesos versus my adjusted British Pound returns.
- In only 4 out of the last 13 years (2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020) has the British Pound weakened against the Peso.
- For the remaining 9 years, the Pound strengthened, acting as a headwind to my portfolio.
Since 2013, this currency drag has reduced my annual performance by approximately 2.25% in GBP terms compared to the raw Peso returns.
Currency effects shouldn’t be belittled. It is a double-edged sword that can determine whether a global portfolio outperforms or underperforms your real-life purchasing power.
That being said, If my purpose is to eventually use my Col Financial investment earnings for future consumption within the Philippines, then the currency effects won’t be a significant issue.
Trading 212 — Where the Big Decisions Happened
This is where most of the action took place.
At the start of the 2nd quarter of 2025, I sold all of my holdings in:
- BYD (ADR)
- Greggs
- Canadian National Railway
- Canadian Pacific
- Bank of America
- S&P Global
These stocks had been the engine of my stock-picking portfolio.
So the obvious question is: Why did I sell them? Was I trying to time the market?
No, I am not trying to time the market. This move was entirely tax-driven.
The Tax Strategy Behind the Sales
Before April 2025, I had two UK brokerages for stock picking:
- Freetrade — taxable general account
- Trading 212 — ISA (tax-free account)
The plan was simple: move my stock-picking portfolio into a tax-free wrapper.
Here’s how I executed it:
- 4 April 2025 — Sold all stocks in my Freetrade (taxable) account
- 7 and 8 April 2025 — Withdrawn the capital and transferred it into Trading 212 (ISA)
Why these dates matter:
- The UK tax year ends on 5 April of each year
- A new tax year begins on 6 April of each year
By selling on 4 April, I used my 2024–2025 capital gains allowance.
By transferring funds on 7 and 8 April, I accessed a fresh £20,000 ISA allowance for the 2025–2026 tax year.
It was a smooth transition. Legal, clean and efficient.
The Pivot That Defined My 2025 Returns
Evan, if that’s the case, then why did you not buy back the same stocks during your portfolio transfer?
I agree, I did plan to do that. However! April 2025 happened!
Just as this transfer occurred, markets went into panic mode.
Remember the so-called “Liberation Day” moment? When President Trump unveiled a blackboard full of aggressive tariffs and markets dropped like a brick?
That chaos coincided perfectly with my portfolio transition. Instead of rebuying the same stocks I had sold, I saw an opportunity.
During that market sell-off, I bought large positions in:
- Alphabet
- Amazon
- ASML
Two Magnificent Seven stocks. And one critical chip company that the entire semiconductor ecosystem depends on.
Luck was on my side! It reminded me of the pandemic crash! The market panicked, but I was excited! I once again felt the energy pulsating in my veins. I wasn’t running the half-marathon, but I felt the high of that moment.
So, without any hesitation, I bought large positions of Alphabet, Amazon and ASML.
Any Regrets?
Should I have just bought back my old holdings after my portfolio transition?
Absolutely not.
Those three purchases defined my 2025 performance. If I repurchased the same stocks in my Freetrade account, I would not have achieved my 14.29% returns in 2025.
Looking back, I actually find it funny what happened to me back in April 2025.
I know I was lucky, but without my base knowledge about investing, equities and all of the things intertwined with it, I wouldn’t have known that a rare opportunity was already knocking on my door.
It wasn’t purely blind luck. It was luck from awareness, motion and uniqueness that led me to my 2025 portfolio performance.
In short, this time, luck met my years of preparation.
Bitcoin — My Speculative Bet
I’ve held the same satoshis—think of them as shares of Bitcoin—since 2021. I haven’t sold or bought any of it since then. The running joke is: you’re too poor to buy one Bitcoin, so just buy satoshis instead. 😆
So far, it has performed well. Though not nearly as well as in its previous cycle.
My thesis for owning Bitcoin is twofold.
- First, it’s a bet on blockchain technology.
- Second, it gives me exposure to the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Beyond that, I treat Bitcoin as exactly what it is in my portfolio: a speculative position.
I plan to increase this allocation to 10% of my overall portfolio. Only if the opportunity presents itself through a meaningful price drop.
As of writing (January 2026), many in the crypto community believe we’re in a crypto winter, based on the four-year cycle and the decline from the 2025 highs.
Regardless of the strong opinions, both for and against Bitcoin, I’ll continue to hold and observe. Not just the price, but the evolution of the entire crypto space and the progress of its underlying blockchain technology.
I’m fully aware of the risk profile here.
- The downside? I lose 100% of my invested capital.
- The upside? Unlimited.
If the downside plays out, it won’t break my portfolio. Bitcoin currently makes up just 4.6% of my total investments.
That’s a risk I’m comfortable taking.
ELMads Investment Portfolio Additional Infographics
Below are additional images that you may be curious about. It shows my investment portfolio, Regional/country Allocation, Performance per Brokerage, and this year’s top 3 Gainers and Losers.
You might not know some of the companies in my top 3 gainers and losers. So, I’ll introduce them to you.
Top Gainers:
1. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG.L)
- Sector: Communication Services
- Overview: The parent company of Google, Alphabet, remains a global powerhouse in 2026. While its search dominance continues, the considered primary growth drivers are now Google Cloud and the integration of Gemini AI across its ecosystem. As one of the world’s most valuable companies (approx. $3.8 trillion), it remains a “Magnificent Seven” staple for investors seeking exposure to the global AI revolution.
2. Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI)
- Sector: Industrials (Transportation/Logistics)
- Overview: A critical player in Philippine infrastructure, ATI operates major trade gateways, including the Manila South Harbour and Batangas Port. As a strategic partner of global port operator DP World, ATI is central to the country’s import-export economy. In 2026, it continues to benefit from increased domestic consumption and the modernisation of regional logistics hubs.
3. Tencent Holdings (TCHE.Y) ADR
- Sector: Technology (Communication Services / Gaming / Fintech)
- Overview: Tencent is the world’s largest video game publisher and the creator of WeChat, China’s “super-app” used by over 1.3 billion people. In 2026, the company has pivoted heavily toward Chief AI Scientist-led initiatives to enhance its social and advertising platforms. Its ADR (American Depositary Receipt) offers American and global investors a gateway into China’s digital economy and its massive venture capital portfolio.
Top Losers:
4. Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP)
- Sector: Banking & Finance
- Overview: Widely recognised as the Philippines’ leader in digital transformation, UnionBank is on track to hit 20 million retail customers in 2026. The bank has distinguished itself through “Zero-Touch Onboarding” and the launch of RIA, a voice AI customer service agent. Its aggressive tech-first strategy has made it a favourite for the country’s growing middle class and digital-native workforce.
5. Globe Telecom Inc. (GLO) – Philippines
- Sector: Telecommunications / Fintech
- Overview: More than just a telco, Globe has evolved into a digital solutions platform. While its core business focuses on 5G and Fibre expansion, its real “crown jewel” is its stake in Mynt (GCash), the country’s leading e-wallet. In 2026, Globe’s strategy focuses on maintaining positive free cash flow while bridging the digital divide in underserved rural areas.
6. SSI Group (SSI) – Philippines
- Sector: Specialty Retail / Luxury
- Overview: The Philippines’ premier specialty retailer, SSI manages a portfolio of nearly 100 international brands, including Zara, Hermes, and Cartier. After acquiring Rustan Marketing in 2025, SSI has solidified its hold on the luxury and fast-fashion markets. It serves as a strong barometer for the country’s high-end consumer spending and mall-based retail health.
The Golden Nuggets: Dividends
There are two ways to make money from equity investing.
- First, capital appreciation—when the share price goes up.
- Second, dividends. And this one are the tangible golden nuggets.
Dividends are real cash payments made by a company to its shareholders from its profits. They’re usually paid quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. No paper gains. No assumptions. Just money landing in your account as a reward for owning the business.
Think of it as the pocket money given to you by your parents when you were in your teens. You get the pocket money because you’re part of the family—like owning a business. You have a share on your parents’ potential earnings.
Meanwhile, share price appreciation often gets the spotlight because it looks exciting on paper. But here’s the reality: it doesn’t give you income unless you sell your shares.
Dividends are different. They provide a steady, and a more predictable cash flow. Income you receive without giving up ownership/shares. And over time, that quiet consistency can be just as powerful as price growth, if not more.
I’ve written extensively about dividends and share buybacks, breaking down their mechanics and benefits. Click on the blog links below.
What Are Dividends?
Share Buyback & Dividends
My Dividend Growth Rate (Year-on-Year, Indexed)
I am not a dividend investor.
My portfolio strategy has always been simple: buy quality businesses, with strong growth prospects, at a reasonable price, and hold them for the long term.
Many public companies don’t pay dividends at all. These are often early-stage or fast-growing businesses. Their priority isn’t paying shareholders cash today, but reinvesting profits to grow, build scale, and secure a durable position in their industry. Investors buy these companies for future price appreciation, with the expectation that once they mature, dividends may eventually follow (e.g. Meta and Alphabet, both of which just started payingout dividends recently)
Since my capital is invested for long-term financial goals, I don’t need current income from my portfolio. That’s why I don’t deliberately chase dividend-paying stocks.
So why do I still receive dividends?
Simple. Some of the businesses I own happen to pay them. That’s it.
My dividend yield in 2025 is roughly 1%. If I were a true income investor, I’d be targeting 5% or more, not something this modest.
Personally, I see dividends as not the goal, but they’re a by-product of the underlying business.
That said, it’s still satisfying to see those dividends grow over time.
As my portfolio compounds, so does the income. The businesses I own are well-managed, financially strong, and protected by competitive advantages. I also bought them at sensible prices. When those conditions are in place, dividend growth tends to take care of itself.
Looking ahead, I estimate my dividend growth rate will continue at around 7% per year, assuming the underlying companies continue to grow their profits.
It is not a dividend strategy, just good businesses quietly doing their thing.
My Investment Aims and Stock Picking Strategy
My Plan for my Stock-Picking Portfolio (Trading212 & Col Financial)
I plan to continue doing what I’ve always done.
- Invest in businesses I understand—their operations, their economics, and how they actually make money.
- Focus on quality public companies with strong balance sheets, able to weather storms.
- Public companies with fairly predictable cash flows
- And buy shares at undervalued to fair prices, relative to their future cash-flow potential.
- Then comes the most important part: keep investing and hold those quality businesses for as long as possible.
Rather than constantly looking for something new, I plan to double down on companies I already own, especially where my conviction remains high.
Do I have a watchlist for companies I aim to purchase, if an opportunity arises this year?
Absolutely!
That’s precisely why I continue to build my cash position. Not by selling existing holdings, but by consistently saving a portion of my monthly salary and setting it aside for future investments. Cash is patience in liquid form.
My largest and highest-conviction Magnificent Seven bet this year is Amazon. I would like to scoop up some more shares of the business based on my own purchase price—computed via my discounted cash flow model.
There are also two companies I’m closely watching that I don’t have any shares of yet.
One is based in Sweden, the other in the United States, both within the communication services sector.
The Swedish company held me back from purchasing its shares in 2023–2024 because find it hard to estimate its long-term profitability. While it posted profit losses until 2024, it consistently generated positive and growing free cash flow. Today, however, its share price has moved well above my buy price range.
Then comes the other company I’m watching closely. This US-based corporation is facing the opposite problem. Investor sentiment has turned negative, with its stock trending down since mid-2025 amid rising uncertainty within its industry. For now, this remains a wait-and-see situation. I’m happy to sit on cash until I find the right time and signs to swing.
This is my plan for this year: wait, prepare, and swing when the setup is right. However, I continue to remind myself that “time in the market, beats timing the market.”
In short, stick to your investment principles but learn to be flexible, because often times the global equity market goes up 70% of the time.
I hope 2026 presents fresh opportunities to double down on my strongest convictions from 2025. And, I hope the same for my readers as well.
My Investment Aims
I’ve always structured my investing around attaining three clear tiers of performance measures:
- Outperform the FTSE All-World Index
- Generate a minimum of 10% per year
- Beat inflation
Beating inflation is the baseline. It simply means protecting my hard-earned money from quietly losing its value. I want the ability to buy roughly the same goods and services in the future without needing to sacrifice a much larger portion of my income. If I deem an investment can’t clear this hurdle, then it doesn’t deserve my capital.
The 10% annual return target is a challenge I deliberately set for myself. Is 7% more realistic? Absolutely. But aiming higher forces me to think better.
Sure, a higher bar creates pressure. Either it backfires and causes unwanted stress, or it raises my level of thinking, discipline, and strategy. I aim for the latter.
By anchoring my decisions to a 10% goal, I become more intentional. Every investment has to justify its place. It forces me to weigh risk, reward, and opportunity cost more carefully.
Beating the FTSE All-World Index is the hardest goal of all, and I am completely aware of this. Most investors fail to do this consistently. Still, I enjoy the process of doing the research, the decision-making, and the responsibility that comes with it. Wins and losses alike are mine to own. No excuses. No finger-pointing.
This, more than performance, is the real training ground for Integrity, accountability, and doing what I say I will do. Investing just happens to be the arena where I practice these values.
So yes, the image above shows my three-tier goals alongside my 2025 results. The outcome? A partially met year—2 out of 3. I beat inflation. I achieved my minimum 10% return. But I underperformed the Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF.
And I’m okay with that.
That concludes my 2025 annual report. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and more importantly, I hope you took something valuable from it.
This is Not The Conclusion You Expect
Today is the 12th of January, 2026.
I struggled to write what to say here, not because I have nothing to write, but because I have too much.
You might already think you know how this ends.
Invest now. Build wealth. Secure your future.
You already know that, and I’ve written that message many times—through posts, blogs, and even a book. This time, I want to talk about what sits beneath it.
Money is not the end goal.
It is only a means to an end.
Living life is the ultimate goal.
I guess I have to elaborate more on what I’ve written, don’t I? 😊
Don’t discount your potential!
What may seem impossible right now for you to achieve—whether in money, relationships, health, or even your inner life—is often just the gap between where you are today and two things:
- Consistently taking small actions toward where you want to go
- Learning how to carry the pain and sacrifice that come with those actions, by yourself, quietly, without applause, for a very long-time.
Big wins are nothing more than small, repeated actions taken daily.
And here’s the irony: even when you’re “winning,” it rarely feels like it. That’s normal. Because life isn’t about winning, it’s about being aligned. About living in a way that feels honest, intentional, and meaningful. About discovering what gives your life depth, and how you can be of service to the people you love and the world around you.
So whatever path you’re on, remember this:
Life is simply what you do in the space between the day you were born and the day you’re gone.
Live a good life.
Serve others.
And don’t forget to enjoy the moments in between.
2025 Net-Worth Challenge (Can You Crack The Code?)
There are always a few people who ask me to share the actual amount of my net worth. I don’t mind but I’m not particularly fond of it, not because of the numbers themselves, but because the number is just the scoreboard; the habit of investing is the game.
I’m a percentage-focused person. But, to celebrate the start of 2026 and to show you what consistent investing actually looks like in practice, I’ve turned my 2025 year-end net worth into a small puzzle for the financially curious. Let’s see if you can crack it.
Step 1: Travel Back to 2022 (Stock ownership computation)
My net worth in 2022 (in USD) was equivalent to owning 1,048.06 shares of Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) based on its closing price on 03 November 2022.
You can find the exact closing price here:
🔗 https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOGL/history/?period1=1667260800&period2=1686528000
Step 2: Convert It to GBP (Foreign exchange computation)
Now, take that USD value and convert it to GBP using the GBP/USD exchange rate on 03 November 2022.
You can find the historical exchange rate here:
🔗 https://www.exchangerates.org.uk/GBP-USD-spot-exchange-rates-history-2022.html
This gives you my 2022 net worth in GBP.
Step 3: Fast Forward to Today (Compounded growth computation)
From November 2022 to the end of 2025, my net worth has grown by roughly 31.29% annually, compounded each year for approximately 3 years.
Important note: This 31.29% annual growth rate includes:
- The amount of money I’ve invested yearly, and
- investment performance
In other words, it reflects the total growth of my net worth, not just market returns.
So now the final puzzle:
👉 What is my net worth in GBP as of the end of 2025?
Drop your answers in the comments. Let’s see who can crack it. 😁
This blog is for informational purposes only and not a Financial Recommendation. Not all information will be accurate. Consult an independent financial professional before making any major financial decisions.
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