Portfolio Update December 2025: EUR 76,965 Portfolio

Portfolio Update December 2025: EUR 76,965 Portfolio

e December 2025: EUR 76,965 Portfolio Thumbnail" width="480" height="360" loading="lazy" decoding="async">

Portfolio Update December 2025: EUR 76,965 Portfolio

Key Takeaway: EUR 76,965 portfolio. High-yield dividends and cashflow strategy in the video.

Portfolio Update December 2025: Income & Transparency

Monthly hard asset dividend portfolio update. Key positions: CMB.Tech, TORM, Thungela Resources. Sector: Shipping & Mining. Year-end 2025 + Q4 dividend season peak.

Calculate your own YOC: Free Calculators →

Year-end update with portfolio overview and 2026 outlook.

December 2025: Hard Asset Dividend Portfolio Transparency

Monthly portfolio update from MB Capital Strategies. Focus sectors: Shipping (LPG, Tankers, Dry Bulk), Mining (Copper, Gold, Coal), Energy (Upstream, Midstream, Pipelines), REITs. All positions are held for cashflow generation and dividend growth — not short-term price speculation.

Sector Check: Full-Year Hard Asset Dividend Summary

Hard asset dividend investing requires monthly attention to sector fundamentals. The question is not "what is the stock price?" but "is the underlying business generating enough free cash flow to maintain and grow the dividend?" Each month, this update tracks the key indicators for each sector.

Key Metrics to Watch Monthly

• Shipping: VLGC spot rate, VLCC TCE rate, Baltic Dry Index (BDI), fleet utilization rates.
• Mining: Copper price trend (key for BHP, Rio Tinto), gold price (Newmont, Barrick), coal realizations (Thungela).
• Energy: Brent/WTI spread, pipeline throughput volumes, midstream contract renewal rates.
• REITs: Net Asset Value per share, AFFO payout ratio, occupancy rates (if applicable).

Yield on Cost: The Long-Term Tracker

For positions held 3+ years, the Yield on Cost (YOC) has typically grown well above the current yield shown on financial platforms. This is the true measure of dividend investing success: each year the dividend grows, the YOC on the original cost base compounds upward. Use the free YOC calculator to track your own positions.

Strategy Principle

Hard assets provide the physical infrastructure that the global economy requires regardless of financial market cycles: tankers move energy, mines produce metals, pipelines transport gas. When these businesses generate durable free cash flows, they can sustain and grow dividends through multiple market cycles. See the full Hard Asset Investment Strategy →

Disclaimer: For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.

December 2025 Portfolio Review: Year-End Hard Asset Summary

December 2025 closed a pivotal year for hard asset investors. Here's my annual assessment and what it means for the 2026 strategy:

Year-End Portfolio Summary (December 2025)

2025 was the year shipping re-asserted itself as the highest-yielding sector in my portfolio. BW LPG, TORM, and Frontline generated 9-13% yield on cost throughout the year. Mining had a mixed year (copper strong, zinc/manganese weak), and pipelines/REITs held steady with 5-7% yields.

December dividend income: ~EUR 89 net. Lighter month (Q4 payments concentrated in November for many positions). However, several special/supplemental dividends boosted the annual total.

2025 Annual Dividend Total

Full-year 2025 dividend income hit a personal milestone: the first year crossing EUR 3,500 in net dividend income. That's roughly EUR 292/month in passive income from hard assets. Still far from financial freedom — but the trajectory is clear.

Lessons from 2025

1. Concentration works (if thesis is right): Shipping-heavy positioning was correct. Diversifying into lower-yield assets for "safety" would have reduced returns without reducing real risk.
2. Variable dividends are fine: BW LPG cut its dividend once in 2025 (rate softness in Q3) — then resumed at higher levels. Selling on a dividend cut would have been wrong.
3. Currency matters for European investors: USD-denominated shipping dividends benefited from EUR/USD moves. Always factor FX when calculating effective EUR yield.

2026 Strategy Outlook: What Changes and What Stays

Shipping: Still Core, But Cycle Awareness Critical

The shipping allocation remains the core of the portfolio heading into 2026. The TCE rate environment for LNG tankers looks constructive (seasonal demand + limited newbuild deliveries until 2028). For VLCC crude oil tankers, the key variable is OPEC+ production policy — every 1 million BPD of production change moves tanker demand by roughly 3-5%. My thesis: maintain shipping allocation, but be mentally prepared for 12-18 months of softer rates if OPEC+ ramps. The dividend yield buffer (~8-12% YOC on shipping positions) makes patience sustainable.

Mining: Selective Rotation Toward Copper

2025 confirmed the copper structural thesis (electrification demand growing, supply constrained by 15-year mine development cycles). My mining allocation will tilt further toward copper in 2026 at the expense of pure thermal coal. However, thermal coal positions (Thungela, Yancoal) stay as long as free cash flow remains strong and AISC stays below $90/tonne — which both do currently. No reason to exit for ideological reasons when the business model generates 30%+ FCF yield.

What I'm Watching in Q1 2026

Three catalysts to track: (1) China steel demand data — the iron ore and tanker swing factor; (2) OPEC+ compliance rate going into the March 2026 review; (3) LNG re-contracting activity as 2030-2035 supply contracts begin to be finalized. Any of these can meaningfully reprice my portfolio's underlying businesses. The DRIP calculator helps model different dividend scenarios.

December 2025 Dividends: The Christmas Month Effect

December is one of the stronger dividend months in my portfolio. Q4 payments from annual and semi-annual payers arrive, quarterly payers come through, and monthly payers (Realty Income, Enbridge) add their December amounts. The net effect: December typically generates 40-60% above the average monthly dividend income.

This December seasonality is built into my financial planning — December income is partially ring-fenced for January reinvestment, when market prices in hard assets are often depressed due to year-end tax-loss harvesting by institutional investors. The buy opportunity that December dividends fund is often in January/February of the following year.

2025 Full-Year Portfolio Assessment

Looking back at the full year 2025 from a hard-asset dividend perspective:

• Shipping outperformed expectations: CMB.Tech (largest position), TORM, and Frontline all generated variable dividends well above my base-case projection. The Russia sanction rerouting effect proved more durable than most analysts expected in early 2025.
• Coal surprised to the upside: Thungela paid semi-annual dividends that implied 12-15% yield on cost basis. The market remained skeptical of thermal coal = energy security premium was real.
• Pipeline stability confirmed: Enbridge, TC Energy — essentially zero volatility in dividend payments. Boring and exactly right.
• Gold miners: missed opportunity partially captured: Added to AngloGold at the right time (pre-$2,500 gold breakout), but could have sized more aggressively. Lesson learned for 2026.

December 2025 → January 2026: Capital Allocation Decision Framework

The December dividend collection month naturally leads into the January reinvestment decision. Here is how I structured the capital allocation question coming out of 2025:

• Reinvest in existing positions: DRIP logic applied to gold miners (AngloGold at February 2026 dip), pipeline adds (TC Energy at 5.2% yield), and one tanker top-up (TORM at cyclical trough multiple). These were systematic, not reactive.
• Do not chase performance: December 2025 was a strong month for Thungela and Yancoal on thermal coal price strength. I did NOT add — the positions were already appropriately sized and the risk profile had not changed favorably on valuation.
• Keep cash for January tax-loss harvesting opportunities: Every year, institutional sell-off at year-end creates January dip opportunities in names that have had bad fundamentals news but are actually fine from a dividend perspective. BW LPG in January 2025 was a case study.

The compounding effect of this December-dividend-into-January-reinvestment cycle is real and meaningful over 5–10 years. For the January 2026 update: Portfolio Update January 2026. For the February continuation: Portfolio Update February 2026: +8.96%.

Tools I use: Dividend Growth Calculator (models DRIP compounding) and YOC Calculator (tracks effective yield on original cost basis). Both free on this site.

See also: Best Tanker Stocks 2026

Related: my current high-yield picks — curated for dividend portfolio.