AIA Newsletter September 2026 — Introducing the AIA Permanent Portfolio

AIA Newsletter September 2026 Introducing the AIA Permanent Portfolio JOHN POLOMNY SEP 03, 2026 — PAID

Commentary

"The inconceivable is absolutely conceivable when the survivability of the state is threatened." ~ Russell Napier

[Image — usdebtclock.org real-time US debt snapshot]

The above snippet is from the usdebtclock.org site. It gives real-time data on the US debt situation.

If you have been following along here or my YouTube channel for any period of time, you know I have been railing on and on about the out-of-control US government spending and growing debt pile.

This debt pile is increasing at an ever-faster rate, and we are in a so-called great economy according to our leaders!

I harp on this not because I am some kind of dollar-collapse Cassandra; it is because I know there are only a few possible outcomes to this issue, and only one is likely.

The government will voluntarily cut spending and live within its means. This will lead to a decline in the debt-to-GDP ratio over time. Not likely, as a large and growing share of spending is now on transfer payments like Social Security and Medicare, which are ramping up as the Boomer generation retires in large numbers. There is zero appetite among voters or their elected representatives for reforming these programs or cutting discretionary spending.

Outright debt default. Zero chance, as this would lead to the collapse of the dollar and a deflationary depression. This would be the end of the US Empire.

Monetize the debt. As the debt pile grows and creditors become anxious about the US's ability to pay its debts and/or prudently manage its fiscal affairs, they will demand higher interest rates to compensate for the increased risk of nonpayment and/or of being paid in a debased currency.

Unfortunately, and backed by historical precedent, governments have chosen the perceived easy way out: monetization of their debt. The US and other Western welfare states will eventually choose this route also.

They will likely do this via QE and "yield curve control". Yield curve control is a monetary policy in which a central bank targets a specific interest rate on long-term government bonds and buys or sells bonds as needed to maintain that rate.

The FED will set an arbitrary interest rate and then use QE (printed money) to buy enough bonds to keep the rate at that level while allowing inflation and nominal growth to exceed the controlled rate.

The US already did this once before, after WW2.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St, Louis has a paper on its site that explains this process well.

The U.S. incurred massive debt expenditures to finance World War II, and the Fed capped yields in order to keep borrowing costs low and stable. In April 1942, short- and long-term (25 years and longer) interest rates were pegged at 3/8 percent and 2.5%, respectively. These rate caps were largely arbitrary and were set at approximately pre-1942 levels.

As the U.S. continued to incur debt, the Fed was obligated to keep buying securities to maintain the targeted rates—forfeiting some control of its balance sheet and the money stock. The public generally preferred to hold higher-yielding, longer-term bonds. Consequently, the Fed purchased a large amount of short-term bills, which also increased the money supply, to maintain the low interest rate peg.

After the war ended, FOMC members grew more concerned with addressing the rapid inflation that materialized. However, President Harry S. Truman and his treasury secretary still favored a policy that maintained YCC (which also protected the value of wartime bonds by implying a price floor). By 1947, inflation was over 17%, as measured by the year-over-year percent change in the consumer price index (CPI), so the Fed ended the peg on short-term rates in an attempt to combat developing inflationary pressures.

In combination with rising debt from the U.S. entering the Korean War in 1950, the peg on longer-term rates contributed to faster money growth and increased inflationary pressures. In 1951, annualized inflation was over 20%, and monetary policymakers insisted on combating inflation. Against the desires of fiscal policymakers, interest rate targeting was brought to an end by the Treasury-Fed [Accord]

Basically, the FED would be the buyer of last resort for US Treasury debt. This could lead to a situation where the 10-year rate is trading at 3% while the inflation rate is higher, say, 4% or higher. This inflation, coupled with nominal GDP growth, would lead to the slow but steady inflating away of the debt in nominal terms. Of course, it could also lead to massive inflation (see the WW2 example above).

One might counter this and say, "Well, I am not a fool; I will not buy these bonds, as they are simply certificates of confiscation." I am being paid less in interest than the inflation rate. I can do math and do not want my purchasing power to erode.

The US Government, which by this time will be desperate for revenue, has a whole bag of tricks for people smart enough to avoid buying their bonds.

Economic Historian Russel Napier has written about this.

Napier believes the authorities will eventually shift the burden from central banks to regulated savings institutions.

- Higher liquidity requirements requiring banks to own government securities. - Preferential regulatory treatment for sovereign bonds. - Pension rules requiring minimum allocations to domestic government debt. - Insurance solvency rules favoring government bonds. - Tax advantages for government securities. - Restrictions on foreign investment or capital movement. - Government guarantees that steer bank credit toward politically favored sectors. - Pressure on retirement plans to invest domestically.

The government does not necessarily announce: "You must finance our deficit." Instead, it changes the regulations (Congress makes the rules) so that owning government bonds becomes practically unavoidable.

Napier said in a 2023 interview that governments would increasingly need to control both the banking system, the source of most money creation, and the savings system in order to suppress the yield curve while inflation remained elevated. He pointed to public discussion in Britain about directing pension-fund investment as an early example.

Just in time for this issue:

In Brussels, they are counting on redirecting the private savings of Europeans toward patching holes in their own economy. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, publicly called the bank deposits of EU residents "lazy." But the commission found an interesting proposal to put the people's accumulations at risk.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission:

"In Europe there are savings. Unfortunately, these savings are idle. €10 trillion of household savings at present remain on bank deposits. And a significant part of European savings is invested outside our continent. Europe must now make these savings work for the good of its business. We have put forward proposals on securitization, investments of banks and insurance companies, and also on the integration of our markets and their supervision. Together they can unlock up to €470 billion of additional investments."

These monthly issues just seem to write themselves!

The point being that these governments are desperate for money. Expect higher taxes, inflation, confiscations, capital controls, and anything else they can think of to strip mine you of your money.

The good news is that this is not likely to happen next week or even next year, but the trend is certainly in place. Remember the first priority of any organism is to preserve itself and expand. That includes government: it exists to continue to live and grow, not for the benefit of the people it governs, unfortunately.

What I am Doing

I think the first thing one needs to do is determine if the scenario laid out above is plausible. I believe it is the future regardless of who one votes for. Nevertheless, the reader will have to determine for themselves if they trust governments with their sordid histories or their own eyes and ears.

If one has the means and wealth to do it, one should consider diversifying globally, as Doug Casey has said over his career.

Live in one country, hold citizenship in another, bank in a third, invest or operate a business in a fourth, and keep assets in a fifth.

The original "Three Flags" concept is generally attributed to investment writer Harry D. Schultz. Casey became one of its best-known advocates and expanded it into his philosophy of becoming an "International Man."

This is excellent advice for the person wealthy enough and willing enough to execute this type of plan. How realistic is it for the average AIA reader? Not very likely.

Most people don't have sufficient wealth to attract top advisors, and this space is infested with shysters and scam artists.

Most people do not want to fly around the world, set up banking, brokerage, and gold custodial accounts all over the place, and then try to manage it all. A Family office with a billion dollars? Yes. Guy who sold his HVAC business for $2 million? Not likely.

So what can we do?

I believe we can gain some insight into a possible solution from the 1996 and 2000 Libertarian Presidential candidate Harry Browne. Who was Browne? He was an American writer, libertarian political activist, and investment advisor. He was the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee in the U.S. elections of 1996 and 2000, running on a platform that advocated abolishing the federal income tax, privatizing Social Security, ending the war on drugs, and drastically reducing the size and scope of government.

He also came up with something called the "Permanent Portfolio."

Harry Browne's Permanent Portfolio is built around a deceptively powerful proposition.

Because nobody can reliably predict the next economic regime, investors should own assets that collectively prepare them for every major regime.

This is genuine diversification by economic exposure and not simply owning hundreds of securities that all depend on rising asset prices and easy credit.

Browne generally advocated periodically rebalancing and returning the portfolio toward its 25% allocations. His work has been implemented using annual rebalancing or tolerance bands; commonly, rebalancing occurs when a component reaches approximately 35% or falls to 15%.

I think this basic framework is sound. My intention is to expand upon the basic concept and improve on it. For example, I want less exposure to bonds due to the reasons articulated earlier in the article. This is especially true given that I expect persistent inflation and the government to institute yield-curve control.

This new portfolio will be dubbed the AIA Permanent Portfolio.

This will not be a one-issue, one-and-done type situation. It will likely take a while to complete my thinking on this subject and find suitable portfolio components.

It is also not a get-rich portfolio. This is better suited for those with accumulated wealth who want to preserve it over the long term during what I expect to be a very tumultuous economic, financial, and political period.

It is impossible to know the future in detail. I hope that I am wrong and the leadership class will reform itself, but that is highly unlikely. Nor do I think that the things required to fix these issues are even politically possible, and the things that are possible will not be sufficient to change our course.

As always, we take things as they are, not as we wish them to be.

Let's get to work.

Actionable Intelligence Alert is a reader-supported publication. To receive access to my new permanent Portfolio and the rest of my premium work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Portfolio Additions

In the commentary, I discussed the Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio and the new Permanent Portfolio.

Another source I used for thinking around long-term wealth preservation is the Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzia 42a:

A person should divide his money into three: one-third in land, one-third in business, and one-third kept in his possession.

I like the concept of owning land in a permanent portfolio. However, I don't want the headache of actually owning it myself. There are many publicly traded companies with large landholdings that allow me to buy land in a liquid way.

I also want to own large land banks with income streams and optionality. What is optionality? Is there the possibility that some new use for the land will materialize in the future?

I think timberland fits the bill. It certainly has been out of favor, and regardless of who the Treasury Secretary is or what was said at the most recent FED confab, the trees continue to grow and get more valuable.

[Chart — lumber price history. Caption: "Lumber prices are down, but the trees keep growing"]

One of my favorite value investing firms, Kopernik, recently wrote a piece on the desirability of timber investments. You can read it here.

The price of timber is rarely on anyone's mind. It appears indirectly, in the cost of a Christmas tree, a kitchen renovation, a shipping box, a package of tissues, or a box of diapers. Most people encounter timber only after it has been harvested, processed, transported, and transformed into something familiar. By then, the forest has disappeared from view, and all that remains is a small cluster of tree-based products.

Markets often make similar mistakes valuing cyclical companies; extrapolating instead of normalizing, markets often invest procyclically. Timber is long-duration and biological; it grows on its own schedule. Its price, however, is cyclical and regional, shaped by housing demand, pulp markets, mill capacity, transportation logistics, weather, and harvest decisions. At the low end of the cycle, earnings may look weak even as the assets retain substantial value.

Such is the case today. The forest has been growing quietly for many years. Many timber-exposed companies trade near prices seen fifteen years ago, despite years of biological growth, stable demand, and monetary expansion that have lifted many other asset categories. The market appears to be mistaking cyclical weakness for an industry in decline (we grant, however, that it has been a LONG cycle). As anyone who has spent time walking through the woods can attest, the forest may be quiet, but it is not idle. Trees continue to grow, inventories continue to mature, and land continues to carry value even when prices are weak and investor attention has moved elsewhere.

Why timberland belongs in the permanent portfolio?

The main reason is that trees are a biological compounding asset.

Trees continue to grow regardless of financial markets. Depending on species, age, and geography, a commercial forest may add approximately 3–8% to its timber volume annually.

- Growth is more valuable than it initially appears because trees move into more valuable categories as they grow: - Pulpwood becomes small sawtimber. - Small sawtimber becomes higher-value sawlogs. - Mature logs may qualify for specialty, plywood, or export markets.

This is sometimes called "in-growth." The owner benefits not only from greater physical volume but also, potentially, from a higher per-unit price as the tree matures.

Harvests can be deferred

Timber is a commodity that can often be stored "on the stump." If log prices are unattractive, an owner can reduce harvests and allow the trees to continue growing.

This creates an embedded operational option unavailable to most commodity producers.

Oil wells and mines deplete. Forests can be replanted.

It's not all ice cream and ponies, as there are limits: age, disease, fire risk, and portfolio age-class management, but the flexibility remains valuable.

Low correlation with financial assets

Private timberland returns have historically shown a relatively low correlation with stocks and bonds.

Public timber REITs are less diversified because their shares trade daily and are influenced by interest rates, housing expectations, and equity market sentiment. However, they do give us professional management and liquidity.

If things begin to seriously go off the rails in the US, it would be easier to sell shares in a stock than to sell a piece of land.

Weyerhaeuser (WY)

I have discussed this a bit on the Discord channel, and I do own it. It is the first addition to the AIA Permanent Portfolio.

Weyerhaeuser is one of the world's largest private timberland owners. Following recent portfolio transactions, it owns or controls approximately 10.4 million U.S. acres, plus Canadian acreage managed under long-term licenses. It operates as a REIT.

Its land base spans three economically distinct regions:

U.S. South - Fast biological growth, long harvest season, relatively low operating costs.

Pacific Northwest - Valuable Douglas fir, export access, high-value sawlogs.

Northeast - Diverse end markets and alternative-use potential.

[Map image — Weyerhaeuser's 10.4 million US acres by region]

The company is a diversified producer of wood products. The industry is currently in a cyclical downturn due to a housing market downturn.

Nevertheless, the company generated approximately $1.02 billion in adjusted EBITDA in 2025, a depressed year for the wood products industry. That puts the shares at a high multiple of trough earnings. The investment thesis therefore rests on asset value and normalized earnings, not the current P/E ratio.

Weyerhaeuser returned $606 million through base dividends and $160 million through repurchases during 2025. Management's stated framework is to return 75–80% of adjusted funds available for distribution through base dividends, repurchases, and/or supplemental dividends.

[Image — Weyerhaeuser capital-allocation framework]

Management is playing the long-term value game, as evidenced by recent transactions.

117,000 acres in North Carolina and Virginia were acquired for $364 million, or about $3,100 per acre.

10,000 acres in Washington were acquired for $95 million, or approximately $9,500 per acre.

28,000 Oregon acres were sold for $190 million, or about $6,800 per acre.

86,000 acres in Georgia and Alabama were contracted for $220 million, or approximately $2,560 per acre.

The company acquired higher-return acreage at an estimated 21× timber EBITDA while disposing of non-core land at approximately 45×. That is intelligent capital recycling, assuming management's forward estimates prove accurate.

A crude blended value of $2,500–$4,000 per acre applied to 10.4 million acres implies a gross timberland value of roughly $26–42 billion. However, this is not a clean equity NAV.

Hidden assets and embedded optionality

Some acreage is ultimately worth more for:

Residential development Industrial projects Data centers Recreational tracts Conservation ownership Agricultural conversion Rural second homes Infrastructure corridors

Weyerhaeuser can harvest the timber first and then sell the land at a premium to timberland value. These transactions can produce very high margins because much of the land is carried at old historical cost.

This is not speculative optionality: land sales already generate meaningful earnings. But the timing is irregular, making quarterly results lumpy.

Again, this is an asset play, not an earnings play. The market has depressed the share price amid the cyclical downturn in housing, overlooking the asset's value and optionality.

What are some other land use cases that could be exploited?

Carbon capture and subsurface pore-space rights.

This may be the least appreciated option in the portfolio.

Across much of its Southern acreage, Weyerhaeuser owns the subsurface pore space; the geological formations into which captured CO₂ may be permanently injected. The surface can generally continue producing timber while the subsurface generates lease and royalty income.

The company entered an exploration agreement covering 187,500 acres across five prospective CCS sites in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Wind and solar leases

These arrangements can generate decades of lease income while leaving portions of the property in timber production. Weyerhaeuser reports having advanced multiple wind projects and its first solar project.

Transmission access is the constraint. An acre far from the grid has little renewable value, while strategically situated acreage can be worth multiples of its timber value.

Forest-carbon credits

Weyerhaeuser can alter harvest timing or forest-management practices and sell verified carbon credits representing additional carbon stored in its forests.

Minerals, aggregates, oil and gas

Weyerhaeuser often leases these rights to third-party operators and receives royalty income without committing substantial capital. Aggregate deposits near growing cities can be especially valuable because transportation costs make nearby rock and sand strategically important.

Recreational access

The company sells hunting and recreational permits covering roughly 2 million acres of Western timberlands, along with access arrangements elsewhere. Recreational income will not transform company valuation, but it illustrates how the same acre can support several revenue streams while the trees grow.

The Bottom Line

Weyerhaeuser owns an irreplaceable land platform whose trees grow while investors wait. Its real-estate conversion, mineral rights, renewable leases, mitigation credits, carbon storage, and forest carbon create multiple ways to monetize the same acreage. Those options are real and probably underappreciated, but the near-term share price will still be driven primarily by housing, lumber prices, and interest rates.

Recall what Kopernik said about timberland:

Many timber-exposed companies trade near prices seen fifteen years ago, despite years of biological growth, stable demand, and monetary expansion that have lifted many other asset categories.

I think this is an excellent selection as the inaugural portfolio addition to the AIA Permanent Portfolio.

Company Updates

AIA Portfolio

Aimia (AIM.T)

The company reported Q2 2026 results.

The remaining business, Cortland International, was basically flat. The company finalized the divestiture of Bozzetto, yielding $270 million in proceeds that will be used to pursue the acquisition of a cash-flowing business. On hold while we wait and see what management buys.

How can Aimia be a multibagger?

I think I explained this in the write-up when I added Aimia to the AIA Portfolio, but it was brought to my attention that it might not be clear.

The company is a perpetual capital entity. It is a publicly traded vehicle that will be used to acquire, in part or in whole, cash-flowing businesses.

The stated goal is to grow net book value per share.

If NAV is below the share price, they will buy back stock to close the gap. They are already doing this.

[Chart — "Consistently buying back shares"]

They will buy undervalued cash-flowing businesses with cash on the balance sheet. They will take those cash flows and invest in additional undervalued cash-flowing businesses.

The company went through a period of trying to become this, but the previous management botched it.

New management, in particular CEO Rhys Simmerton, has taken control of the company. Simmerton has a record of successfully buying undervalued companies and extracting full value out of them.

The company is sitting on around $1 billion dollars of net operating loss carryforwards. They will use these NOL's to shield their earnings.

The bet is on the management. They are focusing on places like the UK, which is tremendously undervalued.

The bet is that this management team, which has done this before, can do it again and over time. I believe I told the story of Teledyne in a previous issue, and how that stock multi-bagged. This could be a similar type of story.

The management laid out the plan at their annual meeting in August.

Abacus Global Management (ABX)

The company reported Q2 2026 results.

Initially, the stock dropped as net income declined while G&A expense grew, rising from $18 million to $32 million in Q2 2025. This was primarily related to increases in legal and professional fees of $8,461,035 incurred in connection with various projects, increases in payroll expense of $2,357,717 mainly due to an increase in staffing due to acquisitions, an increase in non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $2,892,265, and other general and administrative expenses of $318,728.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $4,622,655, or 78.6%, for the six months ended June 30, 2026, compared to the six months ended June 30, 2025. The increase was primarily due to higher advertising costs to support our life solutions growth strategy.

The market did not like this, and the stock initially dropped on the news.

Management got the message and on 8/13/26 announced a $100 million stock buyback program.

Management has made a case for taking the business to new levels by integrating its life settlement business with financial planning, asset securitization, and management. We will need to see proof of execution and costs getting in line. We will see.

Chile ETF (ECH)

Could take a while to unwind the previous economic regulations.

Georgia Capital PLC (CGEO.L)

The company reported Q2 2026 earnings.

[Chart — "Record high NAV"]

Not much to say. Earnings are up, and they are consistently buying back shares. Steady as she goes.

Global Atomic (GLO.T)

I have lost patience with this stock. It was a major mistake not to sell after the first disappointment on financing. I have endured several capital raises and was hoping they would resolve this.

This is a real uranium mine that will likely get built. However, if they keep issuing stock, how much meat will be left on the bone? Selling and moving on.

Lesson learned. When a resource company misses a goal or projection, sell first and ask questions later. I knew this but did not follow my own rules and experience.

I am selling Global Atomic.

Gulf Marine Services (GMS.L)

The company announced a contract extension.

Continue to hold.

Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing (HKXCY)

The company reported first-half 2026 results.

[Charts — "Record revenue and earnings"; "Dividend up 24%"]

Record revenue and earnings. I am becoming a big fan of these exchanges. This is a hold, and I might consider adding shares on weakness in major shares.

Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.T) (IVPAF)

No major news this month.

Liquidia (LQDA)

Still waiting on Judge Andrews to issue his decision. In the meantime, shorts have piled on, and the stock has pulled back. I am not worried it got ahead of itself, and I am still optimistic the decision will be in LQDA's favor. While we wait, sales momentum increases.

Major Drilling (MDI)

Major Drilling Announces Record Quarterly Revenue for Its First Quarter 2027

[Charts — "Record quarterly revenue"; "Labor is their most challenging item"]

Results are good and in line with expectations, as higher cash flows from miners begin to move into exploration and eventually into the company's coffers.

New Stratus Energy (NSE.V)

Venezuela's Oil Revival Is Slower Than the U.S. Hoped

More than half a year after the U.S. captured and extracted Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela, the biggest American oil firms haven't returned to operating oilfields in the world's largest oil reserves holder.

Chevron, which has operated in Venezuela throughout Maduro's reign, is extracting and exporting oil to the U.S., but neither ExxonMobil nor ConocoPhillips have returned as negotiations led by Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA are not progressing as fast as the U.S. Administration probably thought in January when it extracted Maduro and hailed the big U.S. return to Venezuela's oil industry.

There have been some deals signed in recent months, with service providers and smaller American oil companies, which seem more willing to take the risks of operating in the country, which has yet to see a stable political and fiscal environment for large-scale operations.

No news on New Stratus in Venezuela, but they are close to signing in Colombia.

I will remind subscribers that this is a very speculative stock.

Paladin Energy (PDN.T) (PDN.A)

The company reported FY 2026 results.

The results are good, and the issues that were present previously seem to have been resolved. This will remain a hold for me.

Patagonia Gold (PDGC) (HGLD)

The local government lifted the temporary suspension on the Calcatreu mine. This was a temporary suspension due to failure to meet local hiring requirements.

PetroTal (PTAL.L) (PTALF)

No major news this month.

Saipem (SPM.BSI)

No major news this month.

Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM)

The bull market continues.

Seabridge Gold (SEA.T)

No major news this month.

Uzbekistan Investment Fund (UZNF)

Idea Brunch with Scott Osheroff, CIO, AFC Uzbekistan Fund

Why is now a good time to be bullish on Uzbekistan?

Since the beginning of my time in Uzbekistan, my thesis for what needs to happen for the market to become attractive to investors has been that inflation needs to slow (from 15.2% in 2018 to 6.4% in July 2026). As inflation slows the currency has stabilized (from double-digit depreciation in 2018 to approximately 7% appreciation in 2025, and YTD further modest strength versus USD). This has brought unofficial savings into the banking system, firstly into term deposits, though rates have fallen from 26% to the high teens. And for the past two years we have seen capital flow into the corporate bond market. Where previously companies struggled to raise USD 2 million, you now have companies raising USD 20 million+ at a time, and coupons have decreased from a high of 30% to the high teens/low 20% range.

This confluence of events should enable the Central Bank of Uzbekistan to cut its policy rate later this year (barring any further geopolitical issues) from 14% toward 13%, helping to further decrease the cost of capital. Naturally, as the attractiveness of fixed income instruments, at this point, rather quickly decreases (though still highly attractive), we are seeing an inverse relationship in the listed equity market which over the past eighteen months has been in a significant uptrend.

[Chart — Tashkent Stock Exchange UCI Index]

This index was up over 100% in August. However, this is a flawed index and does not accurately reflect market conditions. No brokers or my contacts fully understand how the index is constructed. A communication from the AFC Fund on the index.

The index is market-cap weighted, though there is no disclosure on the framework for the index and, more importantly, its constituents. The best we can do is surmise what its constituents are. The most we have ever uncovered is that it is market-cap weighted, with no further clarity provided, by any stockbroker nor the Tashkent Stock Exchange itself.

There are many illiquid companies that can move significantly with just a bit of buying pressure. Nevertheless, the market is in a significant uptrend which I expect to continue. The country is now increasingly on international investors' radar screens, and, in my view, an inflection point has been reached.

Dividend Portfolio

Amerigo Resources (ARG.T)

No major news this month.

Hawaiian Electric (HE)

No major surprises. It is probably good to think of this as a zero-coupon bond. As time goes by and they repay the settlement damages, we get closer to resumption of dividends. That will be reflected in a higher share price as the market prices in that eventuality.

I-Shares Emerging Market Dividend Fund (DVYE)

No major news this month.

Odfjell Drilling (ODFJF)

Good news as the major Norwegian producers are moving forward with exploration. This will likely filter down to Odfjell.

Presidio Production Co. (FTW)

The company reported Q2 2026 earnings.

Results were as expected.

Swire Properties (SWPFF)

The company reported interim 2026 results:

[Slide — Swire Properties 2026 Interim Results Highlights: Underlying Profit HK$4,900M (+11%, 1H 2025: HK$4,420M); Recurring Underlying Profit HK$4,661M (+36%, 1H 2025: HK$3,420M); Dividend per Share HK$0.37 (+6%, 1H 2025: HK$0.35), sustainable growth for 10 consecutive years. Strong business growth driven by residential sales and growing retail momentum; retail outperforming the market in Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland; residential delivered strong trading results; mid-single-digit dividend growth entering its 10th consecutive year.]

Dividend increased by 6% Positive results

The company continues to execute its HKD 100 billion investment program. The company has demonstrated prudence and good management.

I bought this dividend payer with the long view that I would buy at the bottom of the real estate cycle. It has performed adequately to this point.

Thungela Resources (TNGRF)

[Slide — Thungela H1 2026 financial performance (R million): Revenue 15,172 vs 14,813; operating costs ex-D&A (13,854) vs (14,122); Adjusted EBITDA 1,318 vs 691; D&A (751) vs (1,271); profit on disposal of operations 1,043 vs —; restructuring/termination — vs (285); net finance income 662 vs 1,302; income tax expense (897) vs (136); profit for the reporting period 1,391 vs 248.]

Coal sales were up, but so was the Rand, which mitigated the higher sales.

I am still bullish and will continue to hold. I think the war in the Gulf is reducing LNG exports even as demand remains high. Where coal can be substituted, it is being used.

That's it for this month.

Regards,

John Polomny

AIA Portfolio (Google Sheet) AIA Dividend Portfolio (Google Sheet)