Ann: Change in Portfolio Value, page-5

peejay2, you seem to demonstrate many of the symptoms of an investor in despair of prior decisions. It is an uncomfortable place and sometimes leads investors to anger, frustration and ultimately financial loss. I hope you are not near that place.

I sympathise if you have not been successful in your experience with ALF. Like any LIC of the last 25 years there is a time to buy and a time to sell. Having owned many of them (mostly the long trusted names) over the years, in my experience NOT 1 has been a buy and hold.

ALF was a fantastic accumulate in the naughties at 10 -15% discount to NTA followed by a 10-15% premium post the GFC. I pulled out mainly when they decided to venture overseas. Have been accumulating over the last 2-3 years at great pain, but no different than 10 or 12 years ago. It is the nature of the beast. Heavy buying in the last 3-4 months especially when price dipped to high 80s at 20% discount to NTA is my stock in trade close your eyes moment.

I have very little fear of LICs which of themselves do nothing and can NEVER GO BROKE. Long/short flavours add some uncertainty to outcome, hence the deeper discount and the greater risk to be on the wrong side of a stock, as Justin has demonstrated.

If your experience is a bad one, you will receive a 20% "Get out of Jail Free" card when the buy back happens (January 2020?). After that, unless NTA gets destroyed, I think there will be a re-rating on the back of further buy backs or some other capital management initiative.

It was a simple monty that something was going on when the Directors bought stock on market a month back and terminated the on market buy back process (to preserve cash). It annoyed me that JB was continually in the "buy line" after the WMK wrap up in May, and forced us to pay more than the market price. Then again, it was a smart message to astute investors something was afoot. Always back self-interest ahead of anything else, Justin was there to legally make a quick buck, and he has already bagged a very handy return when the market price simply lost any reality.

As I have said before, I am going to take my 20% like everyone else and have bought more at 95c-96c post the announcement. I fully expect the end game will end in a year or 2 or 3 at $1.10 - $1.20. I don't want silly unfranked dividends just for the hell of them, I'd rather the cash and credits be saved for a more creative shareholder value add, later next year.

Dividends will not sustain the ALF price because the market has learned they can be withdrawn far more easiy than re-instated. Justin are you reading any of the thoughts of the investors you represent. The smoke and mirrors show is over, it is time to rebuild capital value.

Trying not to preach, but hang in there peejay2. The light at the end of that tunnel, does not look like another train, it is the way out!