The R.I.P. Portfolio's Q4 2018 Update

Summary:

- This real-money portfolio was first introduced to the Seeking Alpha community in December 2015.

- The portfolio significantly underperformed its benchmark in 2018, with several factors being significant contributors, but I believe that the portfolio is positioned to benefit from several major trends.

- The financial holdings were a major drag to the portfolio's full-year 2018 performance but, looking out, the large financial institutions are well-positioned for the next few years.

The Retire In Peace portfolio, or R.I.P. portfolio, was first introduced to the Seeking Alpha ("SA") community in December 2015 and I have published quarterly articles that captured the activity and performance of the portfolio since that point in time. The companies that I write about on SA are largely the holdings of the R.I.P. portfolio, so the main purpose for the quarterly articles is to allow for my SA followers to track the performance of the stocks that I write about on this platform.

See the article linked above for additional detail on what I would like to accomplish with these quarterly updates. Additionally, the portfolio goals and my long-term strategy are identified in the section below.