The last quarter of 2023 was a busy one for Spaceship, with the launch of our new US Investing service now available to all Spaceship customers.
Separately, our Spaceship Voyager investment team kept busy, analysing, monitoring and reporting on the portfolios, which ended the year on a high note, recording the following annualised performance numbers as of 31 December 2023:
Spaceship Universe Portfolio:
10.91% pa (since the Funded Date of 15 May 2018) (67 months)
Spaceship Earth Portfolio:
4.71% pa (since the Funded Date of 12 November 2020) (37 months)
Spaceship Origin Portfolio:
8.89% pa (since the Funded Date of 15 May 2018) (67 months)
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and is provided for your information purposes only. Returns are net fees, and not a projection.
As for changes, there was just one, a sale in the Spaceship Earth Portfolio.
Spaceship Earth Portfolio
Sold: American Water Works
American Water Works (AWK) is the largest listed water utility in the US. It provides water and wastewater solutions to millions across the US.
AWK was on our watchlist due to interest rate and debt concerns, although utilities typically manage larger than average debt due to the recurring and essential nature of services.
Our primary concern with AWK revolved around future capital expenditure plans. The company has set spending targets of US$16-$17 billion up to 2028, including US$1 billion from equity. The sheer size of its capital spend is a concern; we initially expected a reduction in capital spending due to higher interest rate expectations, so the targeted spending remains high, especially considering its market capitalisation of US$24.4 billion as of January 19th.
Despite some offsetting of costs through rate increases, with water rates increasing in 2023 adding US$270 million to revenues, we believe the company’s failure to adjust capital spend to the financial reality of higher rates led us to exit the position.
Spaceship Universe Portfolio
We didn't make any changes to the Spaceship Universe Portfolio last quarter.
Spaceship Origin Portfolio
For customers in the Spaceship Origin Portfolio, things are a little different.
The Spaceship Origin Portfolio is made up of around 100 of some of the largest ASX-listed companies by market capitalisation, and around 100 of some of the largest global companies by market capitalisation.
If a company moves in or out of the Spaceship Origin Portfolio, it will generally be because its market capitalisation has changed, not because we have decided to buy or sell it.
Until next time.
Important! We’re sharing with you our thoughts on the companies in which Spaceship Voyager invests for your informational purposes only. We think it’s important (and interesting!) to let you know what’s happening with Spaceship Voyager’s investments. However, we are not making recommendations to buy or sell holdings in a specific company. Past performance isn’t a reliable indicator or guarantee of future performance.
