Investments
I manage my own pension fund investments (it’s a Defined Contribution fund, from which I am now making regular “pension” withdrawals).

I also manage a separate investment portfolio, which I set up after selling out from a business I set up in 1993.

Up until 2019, I published regular updates on the progress of my investments. My focus then turned almost exclusively to my efforts to get traction for my proposal for a different approach to auto-enrolled pensions and I stopped giving investment updates. There is now very little activity on my portfolio. My long holdings are much the same as they were in 2019 and I've finally stopped shorting Tesla, as mentioned in the "News" section. The updates to 2019, titled “Diary of a Private Investor”, are shown below:

Diary of a Private Investor issues

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
17/11/2019 A Tesla Halloween Horror Story I have a sizeable short position in Tesla. A sharp rise in its share price just before Halloween meant that there weren't many Halloween treats for me. Tesla Update: 20 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
24/10/2019 Avoiding tax could prove costly A decision not to sell, in order to avoid a hefty tax bill, proves questionable in light of subsequent events Renishaw Update: 19 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
18/09/2019 The world's best investor? World-beating past performance on an index promoted by BNP Paribas is largely theoretical and is far from a reliable guide to future performance BNP Paribas; Solactive Update: 18 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
10/09/2019 Too good to be true Tells of a weird investment product, concocted to satisfy savers' hunger for the impossible combination of security and return. BNP Paribas; MMPI Ltd t/a Broker Solutions; Solactive Update: 17 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
14/08/2019 Psst, looking for a bargain? Tells of an opportunity to buy into property at close to half-price, but buyer beware: I'm trying to sell the same property! Town Centre Securities Update: 16 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
04/07/2019 Shelling out on a tortoise After analysing the contributors to the return in the first half of 2019, this update tells of my latest attempt to add to my core portfolio. Novo Nordisk Update: 15 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
09/04/2019 The naughty step Dealing with troublesome investments Samsonite Update: 13 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
09/03/2019 A guy in the attic Amateur investors can match the performance of the professionals. Phoenix Group Holdings Update: 12 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
09/02/2019 The virtues of a small harem Extolling the virtues of a concentrated portfolio AMP Update: 11 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
07/01/2019 A homemade hedge fund Shorting a company's shares can help performance in bad times, but is not a good long-term strategy SoftBank, Tesla, Phoenix Update: 10 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
03/12/2018 Just as it says on the tin Equity investing can lead to occasional large losses. That's part of the price for a good long-term return Apple, Tesla Update: 9 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
14/10/2018 Punched in the mouth A severe market setback can throw a plan off course Renishaw Update: 8 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
10/09/2018 Fasten your seat belts Investing in Ryanair led to a bumpy ride. How share buybacks can boost earnings. Ryanair Update: 7 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
19/08/2018 Refusing to act my age The inappropriateness of conventional investment advice to older people, to invest a high proportion of their savings in bonds Equities in general and bonds in general Update: 6 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
12/07/2018 Lord make me pure - but not just yet An opportunity to avail of an attractively-priced rights issue caused me to break my resolution to reduce my borrowings Phoenix Group Holdings Update: 5 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
11/06/2018 Man overboard but shipwreck averted A nasty shock for one of my larger investments at an inappropriate time. In the end, the biggest casualty was a CEO with an inflated academic record Samsonite Update: 4 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
08/05/2018 Biting the bullet The importance of addressing problem investments and accepting mistakes WPP Update: 3 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
01/04/2018 The long and the short of it Prepare for turbulence. Stick to your guns if you have confidence in your analysis Tesla Update: 2 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
01/03/2018 First diary update since original 2015-16 entries Update on companies mentioned in earlier diary entries Apple, Phoenix Group, Renishaw, Samsonite Update: 1 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
20/03/2016 A secure income The value of a secure dividend Phoenix Group Holdings Update: 0 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
07/02/2016 Volatility: friend, not foe How prices can fluctuate wildly, even in the absence of hard news. Exploiting volatility for long-term gain. Renishaw Update: 0 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
17/01/2016 Speculate to accumulate; no pain, no gain. The link between risk and reward in investing. Low gearing levels reduce risk. The endowment effect No specific companies Update: 0 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
06/12/2015 The Apple of my eye Apple's share price assumes it's a spent force. That's far from the case. Apple Corporation Update: 0 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
01/11/2015 The rights and wrongs of rights issues Wrong to be too obsessed with tradition and not face reality by cutting the dividend when times are tough. CRH Update: 0 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
04/10/2015 Getting to know you, getting to love you The merits of getting a deep understanding of a company; not being afraid to back it, even at the cost of concentration Renishaw Update: 0 Read

Document Date Description Theme Companies Covered Update Number Action
06/09/2015 First published diary entry. Tells why I started the diary Don't rely on tips when buying shares. Lottery effect in share purchases. Carclo Update: 0 Read

Other Investment Documents

There are no Other Investment Documents in the database.