Top 20 trades on the ASX in 2019 - Sharesight20
Disclaimer: The below article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a product recommendation, or taxation or financial advice and should not be relied upon as such. Please check with your financial adviser or accountant to obtain the correct advice for your situation.
In this Sharesight20 yearly trading snapshot we look at the 20 most traded stocks by Sharesight users on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in 2019 and how these stocks performed during the year.
Let’s dive into 2019’s top 20 trades.
Sharesight20 top 20 ASX trades in 2019
Click image to zoom
Investors using Sharesight overwhelmingly bought the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) that seeks to track the S&P/ASX 300 index. Following closely behind in the total number of trades was Buy Now, Pay Later growth stock Afterpay Limited (ASX: APT). In a similar result to our snapshot of the top 20 trades on the NZX in 2019 - 5 of the 20 were exchange-traded funds.
Top 20 ASX trades in 2019 - performance
To calculate the performance of these stocks during 2019 we built a Sharesight portfolio domiciled in the same country as the exchange (to remove the impact of currency fluctuations) that contained these 20 stocks and invested an equally weighted (5% of the total portfolio) amount in each stock on January 1st 2019 (or the first listed date for stocks that listed after that date).
We then ran Sharesight’s Performance Report to calculate the portfolio’s 2019 performance. Here’s the results, ordered by Total Return.
| Code | Name | Capital Gain % | Dividends % | Total Return % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APT | Afterpay Limited | 136.32% | 0.00% | 136.32% |
| APX | Appen Limited | 74.92% | 0.78% | 75.70% |
| NEA | Nearmap Ltd | 69.33% | 0.00% | 69.33% |
| CSL | Csl Limited | 48.91% | 1.44% | 50.34% |
| WES | Wesfarmers Limited | 28.33% | 12.31% | 40.64% |
| NDQ | Betasharesnasdaq100 | 36.14% | 3.20% | 39.34% |
| A2M | The A2 Milk Company | 38.57% | 0.00% | 38.57% |
| MQG | Macquarie Group Ltd | 26.82% | 6.64% | 33.46% |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 24.21% | 8.02% | 32.23% |
| VTS | Vngd Us Total Market | 29.36% | 2.31% | 31.67% |
| BHP | Bhp Group Limited | 14.03% | 13.94% | 27.98% |
| AFI | Australian Foundat. | 18.50% | 7.62% | 26.12% |
| VAS | Vngd Aus Shares | 17.91% | 6.59% | 24.50% |
| VDHG | Vngd Div High Growth Etf Units | 18.98% | 5.30% | 24.29% |
| ARG | Argo Investments | 14.91% | 6.22% | 21.13% |
| CBA | Commonwealth Bank. | 11.05% | 8.56% | 19.61% |
| NAB | National Aust. Bank | 2.45% | 9.86% | 12.32% |
| ANZ | Anz Banking Grp Ltd | 0.74% | 8.93% | 9.66% |
| WBC | Westpac Banking Corp | -3.08% | 9.94% | 6.86% |
| Total | 32.02% | 5.87% | 37.89% |
The significant number of Sharesight users who already hold Afterpay Limited (ASX: APT) will probably not be surprised to see it was the top performer in 2019 - delivering a stellar 136.32% return over the year.
With dividend income a focus for many Australian investors, particularly those running SMSFs, it’s perhaps not a surprise that more than half of these 20 most traded ASX stocks delivered dividend returns greater than 5% in 2019. BHP Group Limited (ASX: BHP) and Wesfarmers Limited (ASX: WES) were particular standouts here, paying dividends returning 13.94% and 12.31% respectively.
Overall an equally weighted portfolio of these 20 stocks would have returned 37.89%, which would have quite significantly outperformed an ETF tracking the ASX 300 index like Vanguard’s (ASX: VAS) which returned 24.50%, but would have been slightly outperformed by Betashares Nasdaq 100 tracking ETF (ASX: NDQ) which returned 39.34%.
Track your investment portfolio with Sharesight
Get access to insights like this by tracking your investment portfolio with Sharesight. Built for the needs of investors like you:
- Get the true picture of your investment performance, including the impact of brokerage fees, dividends, and capital gains with Sharesight’s annualised performance calculation methodology
- Sharesight automatically tracks your daily price & currency fluctuations, as well as handles corporate actions such as dividends and share splits
- Run powerful reports built for investors, including Performance, Portfolio Diversity, Contribution Analysis and Future Income (upcoming dividends)
- Plus run tax reports including Taxable Income (dividends/distributions), Capital Gains Tax (Australia and Canada), Traders Tax (Capital Gains for traders in NZ) and FIF foreign investment fund income reports (NZ)
Sign up for a FREE Sharesight account and get started tracking your investments today.
FURTHER READING
See what’s inside your ETFs with Sharesight’s exposure report
See inside your ETFs and get the full picture of your investment portfolio's composition with Sharesight's exposure report.
How KmacD Financial streamlines reporting and saves time with Sharesight
We talk to financial planning firm KmacD Financial about how the Sharesight-AdviserLogic integration helps them save time and streamline client reporting.
Sharesight product updates – November 2023
The focus over the past month has been on implementing additional feature ideas relating to our new (beta) exposure report.