Sharesight20 - Top 20 trades on the ASX in 2018
Our Sharesight20 snapshots of the top 20 trades on the ASX and NZX markets by Sharesight users always make for interesting reading. In this post we’re going to explore the top 20 trades on the ASX in 2018 and build a Sharesight portfolio of these 20 shares to find out how it would have performed during the year.
Sharesight20 top 20 ASX trades 2018
After a turbulent year, and announcing a major shake up of operations, Telstra claimed the title of the most-traded ASX stock by Sharesight users in 2018. The second most traded stock was VAS (Vanguard’s Australian Shares ETF which seeks to track the return of the S&P/ASX 300 Index), followed by NAB in third place.
Interestingly, the Sharesight20 2018 snapshot of the top 20 trades on the NZX saw ETFs dominate the top 3 spots, whereas only 2 ETFs made the top 20 trades on the ASX. As mentioned above, VAS held the number 2 position, and VGS (Vanguards International Shares) just barely made the top 10 by being the 9th most-traded holding.
Let’s explore how the investment returns a portfolio built from these 20 stocks would have performed in 2018 before we dive in to some of the news behind the interest in these stocks.
Sharesight20 ASX 2018 portfolio performance
If you held a portfolio of these 20 stocks on the ASX in 2018 (5% weighting each) you would have seen a respectable total return of 8.17% in 2018, with 5.24% of that return from dividends. Here’s how each stock in the portfolio performed:
| Sharesight20ASX 2018 - Performance Report 2018-01-01 through 2018-12-31 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Code | Name | Capital Gain % | Dividends % | Total Return % |
| A2M | The A2 Milk Company | 40.03% | 0.00% | 40.03% |
| AFI | Australian Foundat. | -3.85% | 5.49% | 1.65% |
| ANZ | Anz Banking Grp Ltd | -14.89% | 7.95% | -6.94% |
| APT | Afterpay Touch | 107.71% | 0.00% | 107.71% |
| BHP | Bhp Group Limited | 15.76% | 7.69% | 23.45% |
| CBA | Commonwealth Bank. | -9.90% | 7.66% | -2.23% |
| CSL | Csl Limited | 31.04% | 1.62% | 32.66% |
| MQG | Macquarie Group Ltd | 9.05% | 6.41% | 15.46% |
| NAB | National Aust. Bank | -18.60% | 9.57% | -9.03% |
| QBE | Qbe Insurance Group | -5.43% | 2.75% | -2.68% |
| RHC | Ramsay Health Care | -17.67% | 2.93% | -14.74% |
| RIO | Rio Tinto Limited | 3.51% | 7.53% | 11.03% |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | -21.49% | 8.66% | -12.83% |
| TPM | Tpg Telecom Limited | -1.98% | 0.87% | -1.11% |
| VAS | Vngd Aus Shares | -7.38% | 5.82% | -1.56% |
| VGS | Vngd Intl Shares | -2.04% | 2.85% | 0.81% |
| WBC | Westpac Banking Corp | -20.13% | 8.57% | -11.56% |
| WES | Wesfarmers Limited | -27.47% | 7.17% | -20.29% |
| WOW | Woolworths Group Ltd | 7.77% | 5.39% | 13.16% |
| WPL | Woodside Petroleum | -5.32% | 5.85% | 0.53% |
| TOTAL | 2.93% | 5.24% | 8.17% | |
Sharesight20ASX 2018 company news
Afterpay Touch (ASX: APT)
- Entered into a deal with Matrix Partners on US expansion
The A2 Milk Company (ASX: A2M)
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Introduced a2 Platinum Premium pregnancy formula in May
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Fonterra’s Anchor began distributing A2 Milk branded fresh milk to New Zealand
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Renewed strategic arrangement with China state farm at official signing ceremony with Hon Steven Ciobo
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Established new "Chief people officer" role with appointment of Lisa Barquest
BHP Group Limited (ASX: BHP)
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BHP Board approved South Flank project in Pilbara
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Completed sale of onshore US shale oil assets
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Announced they were successful in bids for blocks in the offshore orphan basin in Eastern Canada
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)
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Shifted focus of wealth management division to private clients business in the high net worth segment
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Issued a £2.0 billion loan facility, including a £500m facility to finance green projects
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Acquired ValueInvest whose teams manage more than €69.7 billion in equities
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)
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IMF Bentham discontinued funding of potential shareholder class action
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Entered new 15 year alliance with Caltex
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Maurice Blackburn commended shareholder class action with offshore funding
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Agreed to sell 540 Woolworths-owned fuel convenience sites to EG Group for A$1.725 billion
Wesfarmers Limited (ASX: WOW)
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Agreed to divest the Homebase business in the United Kingdom and Ireland to a company associated with Hilco Capital
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Agreed to sell 13.2% interest in Quadrant energy
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Completed Wesfarmers demerger
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Announced the completion of the sale of its K-Mart and Auto services business to continental AG
Ramsay Health Care (ASX: RHC)
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Ascension and Ramsay Healthcare announced development of global supply chain joint venture
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Ramsay Générale de Santé launched unsolicited bid for capio AB
Telstra Corporation (ASX: TLS)
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Confirmed 5G partnership with Eriksson as it launched sites in Canberra, Adelaide and Perth
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Announced the provision of Australia’s first live 4K fiber contribution delivery for Fox Sports for 4K Cable Channel
Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC)
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Awarded over $2 Million to help 17 young Australians become future leaders
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Provided relief package for customers impacted by natural disaster across Australia
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