It's strange that the portfolio is beating the Allshare index but losing out to or matching to the indices that must make up a large %age of it (FTSE 100 & 250). That's stats for you.
Is the 250 considerably outperforming the 100? When I make my random choices I do prefer to get a 250 company but whether this warm feeling is actually reflected in the performance, I'm not sure. I think that maybe those companies are more likely to be taken over in my experience
I'm sure there is a way of fine-tuning performance but I don't think it's going down the -30% route. You only have to look at the main risers above CHLD, RIO, TLW and our mutual friend, LOOK, to see that they don't fit that criterion. The only share that I know that this applied to in my own portfolio was Lamont and that just carried on dropping.
And relying on brokers' recs is an absolute no-no for me.
My own suggestion for a filter would probably to be eliminating some of the sectors. Household & Textiles would be straight out the door. Probaby IT. I would restrict Retailers to those whose sales aren't dependent on fashion, that sort of thing.
