Japanese small-caps

 Looking for a bit of diversification I've bought a few ISJP: iShares Japanese Small-Cap ETF.  Why?

• They're reasonably priced, based on P/B and P/E.
• The yen currently seems very weak vs the dollar, so there's the potential for that to unwind.
• I don't currently have any exposure to Japan.
• There are lots of noises about financial reform in Japan at the moment - demanding companies with very low P/B value publish plans on how to resolve it, for instance.  Could spark an improvement in earnings coupled with an improved P/E ratio, for double impact.

2023 Review

It's been a relatively active year for me, buying more Aviva preference shares and making new investments in Sylvania Platinum and Vesuvius.

Performance has been OK considering the lack of tech shares:

• 9% in GBP (vs 7% for the FTSE 100 including dividends)
• 15% in USD (vs 25% for the S&P 500, I think that doesn't include dividends)
• 19% in NOK (vs 9% for OSEBX, probably not including dividends)

Star performer was TAG Immobilien, up over 100% (after falling 50% in 2022 - so I'm still barely in profit overall).  Berkshire Hathaway, iShares Emerging Markets Dividends ETF and Aviva preference shares (my 3 largest holdings) all returned around 10%.  Ferrexpo (my smallest holding) was a disaster, down 43%.