Adrian’s Portfolio Unveil: A Leaner, Meaner Income-Oriented Strategy

Hey everyone! Welcome back to another portfolio unveil—your favorite video series on income-oriented investing. Strap in because this one’s a big one! There are lots of changes, especially in the main portfolio. If you’re new here, my name is Adrian, and this channel is all about income-focused investing. Every month, I reveal my entire portfolio from A to Z, and it’s become one of my most popular videos.

Let’s dive right in.

The Big Picture: $1.9 Million Across Six Accounts

First, here’s the total value of all six investing accounts in Canadian dollars: a little over $1.9 million.

• Main Portfolio: Includes two TFSAs, a joint cash account, and a joint non-registered account.
• Retirement Accounts: Comprise two RRSPs and a small LIRA.

I use a tool called Passiv to track all six accounts in one place. It’s incredibly easy to use, with a reporting tab that makes organization a breeze. If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend it. There’s a free community version, and if you want additional features, the Elite membership is only $100 a year. Plus, if you use my affiliate link (found in the video description), you’ll get 50% off the Elite membership.

Breaking Down the Portfolio

As usual, we’ll break the portfolio into two sections: Retirement Accounts and the Main Portfolio. Let’s start with the retirement accounts.

Retirement Accounts: QDT and MST

In my retirement accounts, I hold QDT (NASDAQ 100 with covered calls) across all three accounts—mine, my wife’s, and Erica’s. The shares are on DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Plan), so the weekly distributions are automatically reinvested.

• Estimated Weekly Dividend: $0.25 per share (varies weekly).
• Lifetime Growth: My RRSP has grown from 
• 145,000incontributionsto
• 145,000incontributionsto322,000, thanks to compounding and the NASDAQ’s strong performance.

I also hold MST (YieldMax MicroStrategy Covered Call ETF) in my LIRA. This is essentially a leveraged Bitcoin play, as MicroStrategy is heavily invested in Bitcoin. The premiums from covered calls are rich due to MicroStrategy’s volatility.

• Initial Investment: $33,000 (from an old Air Canada pension plan).
• Current Value: $75,000.

The Main Portfolio: Streamlined and Efficient

Now, let’s move on to the Main Portfolio. You’ll notice it’s much leaner now, with only six holdings (down from several more). Here’s a breakdown of the changes:

What I Sold and Why

1. BTCY.B (Bitcoin with Covered Calls): Swapped for MST due to lower fees (0.4% vs. 1.1%) and the upcoming leveraged version of MST.
2. YSL (YieldMax Tesla Covered Call ETF): Consolidated into HHIS (Harvest’s All-In-One Covered Call ETF), which includes Tesla and other high-growth stocks.
3. NVH (NVIDIA Covered Call ETF): Also rolled into HHIS for diversification.
4. GDV (Global Dividend Growth Fund): Sold due to overlap with other holdings. While GDV is a great fund, 77% of its holdings are U.S. dividend stocks, which I already have exposure to.
5. UTES (Canadian Utilities ETF): Sold because I don’t prioritize defensive stocks. Utilities are boring and tend to underperform the market.
6. RS (Canadian Real Estate Fund): Sold for tax efficiency. As a Canadian non-resident, RS was costing me $494 monthly in non-refundable withholding taxes.

What I Bought: The Four Horsemen

The Main Portfolio now revolves around four core positions, which I call the Four Horsemen:

1. HHLD: High-yield S&P 500 covered call ETF.
2. USCL: U.S. large-cap covered call ETF.
3. QQC: NASDAQ 100 covered call ETF.
4. HHIS: All-in-one covered call ETF with high-growth stocks like Tesla and NVIDIA.

These positions are diversified, high-yield, and tax-efficient.

Key Changes and Their Impact

• Monthly Income Jump: From 
• 12,245to∗∗
• 12,245to∗∗17,166**—a massive increase!
• Tax Efficiency: By selling RS and other tax-inefficient holdings, I’ve significantly reduced my non-refundable withholding taxes.
• Streamlined Portfolio: Fewer holdings mean less babysitting and more focus on high-quality, income-generating assets.

What’s Next?

1. Trimming Bank Holdings: I plan to reduce my position in BANK (Canadian financials ETF) by $20,000 next month for better tax efficiency.
2. LIRA Deregistration: As a Canadian non-resident, I’m exploring cashing out my LIRA to merge the proceeds into my main portfolio.
3. Leveraged MST: When the leveraged version of MST launches, I’ll likely swap my current MST holdings for it.

Final Thoughts

This portfolio overhaul has been about maximizing income, improving tax efficiency, and simplifying my strategy. I’m thrilled with the results and excited to see how this leaner, meaner portfolio performs in the coming months.