Most of what I say below (re-mining) is a copy and paste of a recent GBR discussion starting here Post #:57607193 because GBR is a good example of investing on an explorer; at the start of a very good find and early in my LT investment on it. I've taken a good size parcel on NML too. I've known Mt Carlton since its exploration days and I believe in the asset and it's tenements.
12 months out from the initial entry into a miner/explorer I'm usually de-risked via a free carry. I just leave it in the portfolio for eternity it seems. I have ridden out and stayed invested through the commodities boom and busts over the last 20 years.. I have OZL free carries all the way back from the Zinifex days, NCM free carries from the the Lihir days...GBR, SFR, PNR, AMI, IGO, SLR, RMS, RED, IPL, BSL, GOR, RRL, DEG, TBR, BHP and RIO all on sleep easy holding. I'm probably forgetting a few sitting on on the wife and kids shareholdings accounts. The only time they leave the portfolio is when the company gets bought out and I don't get the a corresponding holding...similar to my non-mining holding which I will get to a little later below.
EVN, NST, FMG, AIS, DVP are the current cornerstone miners in the portfolio. Most of the holding for EVN came from Catalpa and Conquest mergers and half of the NST holding came from the SAR merger. So there is a fair bit of capital at risk there since the 2015 commodities low for the first 3 as I poured a lot of capital in those. DVP and AIS more recently, less than a couple of years. As you can see most of the work comes in at the beginning of the holding (unless cornerstone) but once de-risked they don't get sold per the second paragraph above.
Thats the mining side of the portfolio. I have owned financials longer than any of my miners. CBA and a few Fin is still the biggest and longest stock in the portfolio. I'm afterall from the Fin sector. I'm a computer engineer by trade and had a meaningful gig at Barclays Commodities Desk to give me a head start in investing. If anyone is interested in financials my posts on CBA is a good place to start.
The rest of the portfolio is on Tech and Industrials. I'm big on the MANGs and they are cornerstones in the portfolio. Microsoft replacing Facebook on the famous moniker. I've never believed on the FB business model so I never bought it. Microsoft, Apple and Google are the biggest and longest tech. Since the dotcom crash in fact. Netflix is new in comparison starting post GFC. I'm also big on the Asian Techs and industrials too like Sony, Samsung, Tencent etc via PTMs Asian managed fund. They were just too hard to own directly 10+ years ago, having to buy C class stocks if you are foreign...probably easier to play them directly now but happy with the PTM performance and specially divvy over the years on their Asian Managed Fund. Too bad about my direct PTM shares though. PTM shares dives everytime there is an Asian Crisis, case in point Evergrande atm.
The rest of the portfolio is on ASX Agriculture and Industrials like CGC, GNC, ELD, AZJ etc... A few have left the portfolio recently thanks to more cashed up investors than me. BIN, VRL, CCL etc and now SYD is about to get bought out of the portfolio too. When a moat stock goes cheap they do get taken over...not a good thing.
So that is a current snapshot of the Exised $18m equity investment portfolio at the moment. Financials, mining, tech and industrials. The first two comprising of 2/3 of the portfolio. Add another $2m in bullion (22kg Au mostly and some Ag) with that which is my 10% insurance. If things go pear shaped on all the equities, I can be assured that I can start over again using that 10%. At 40 years old achieving, $20m in a little bit over 20 years of investing is not a bad track record. I can say that the compound accretion in the last 5-6 years have given me 90% of that $20m... Pretty crazy if I look at it in those terms but that is the effect of compounding.
We would all be in a position where you never have to sell...indeed. As I said ones holding power is driven by personal circstances.
(20min delay)