BeeBop is happy with how the portfolio progressed through the year. All credit goes to near absolute inertia as Mr GTM 3442 has noted.

I had not intended to be so hands off but with the unpredictability of Mr Trump and Mr and Mrs Brexit, I had little choice, unless of course I had felt that I could more wisely predict the future than anyone else.

As the folios were growing, I realized a nasty wee loss in my AIM listed EMR share at -60% - these things have to be done sometimes! The proceeds were put into Lloyds down at 54p due to the high dividend payout rate and my lack of interest in seeking a growth based home for it. In hindsight, I think I did the right thing as LLOY.L are currently trading at between 62 and 65p.

The real winner for me since mid-December has been THRG.L (BlackRock Throgmorton) which is a small cap growth trust...its performance is beginning to threaten the leadership of my MNKS.L (Monks) holding.

So now I question what my new year moves will be. The income folio (for child's education) requires no action other than reinvestment of dividends which will according go into either SLI.L, MRCH.L or LLOY.L; I don't think I want to do anything interesting here merely hold the slow and fairly steady growth (if I regard growth in a 2-year timeframe and ignore the volatility). The growth folio may get a few more pennies as leftovers from unspent cash get directed to the UK. Maybe I will find a new trust that is at a discount and in the tech sphere - who knows - but the folio has experienced a 20% upswing since 12 December!

Then again, comes the bigger question, do I continue to hold? I tell myself that I will, my rules say I will, but it is incredibly tempting to take all profits in the growth folio out of the market and secure them in NZ (at a secure exchange rate) within one of my mortgages. But no, I won't do that because I don't need to!

Anyway, this year looks to be another year of carry-aboard living along with long-distance hiking. Counting up my NZ days (due to family issues), I am getting close to the maximum days allowable as a non-resident....but never fear....careful flight pricing means that I can fly from the UK back to the Middle East (go figure pricing?) and down to Asia on one ticket, spend a couple of weeks there and then fly on to NZ optimizing travel and days! It won't be hard to work while eating several bowls of noodles in a vibrant Asian city.