Member Info for Alas_Smith

Todays news has been well received thus far. I expect volume will be higher than normal but a good chance of profit taking from speculators.

I will wait for the froth to vanish and add to my holding with some cash held in reserve.

I have purchased a handful of shares today in a SIPP. This is only for IHT purposes as events have conspired for me to be rather aggressive in my future planning for the inevitable.

Also tipped in Sunday Times

Andreas40, volumes are pretty meaningless UNLESS accompanied with news.

Also, not every bargain executed is recorded - plenty are off-exchange or matched, recorded late etc. While traders might wish to avail themselves of every tool, investors will rely on facts and statements published by the company in their accounts. With these, direct comparison can be made against competitors. Managers performance is also taken into account. For instance, I will NEVER invest in any company where Jespal Singh has ANY managerial appointment.

The recent lows in September seem to be in the rear view mirror. I remain underwater, but not inclined to add to my losses through averaging down; my preference being to average up.

A mention here might be of interest https://citywire.com/investment-trust-insider/news/expert-view-888-mands-asos-boku-mj-glesson/a2406745

FWIW, I have reached my target in terms of exposure to banks (all contained in NWG) with a purchase to average my holding up on Wednesday. And now, will just sit back and relax and review my holding every so often. Good luck to all. The next contribution I make to this board is at the point when I reduce my holding. I tend to dip a toe in (1% portfolio value) and either sell early and take a loss on the chin or average my holding over a period to bring exposed cash to 2% portfolio value.

Hi Robina. The differences between a fund manager and a wealth manager are many and varied. A fund manager accepts cash from a pool of investors to invest according to the guidelines that the fund has when launched. This might be in say geograpic or sector in structure, aligned to an index or theme such as smaller companies etc. A fund manager is usually paid as a percentage of the fund value and may restrict times and dates of disposals or acquisitions. Poor performance might lead to the entire fund being shuttered (Woodford was a good and recent example).

A wealth manager on the other hand is specifically engaged to look after individual portfolios. It is usually not worth considering looking after a portfolio where the amount under investment is below £200,000. The manager generally has a strong relationship with their client and complete discretion on the range of investments and timing of dealing. They charge a healthy commission (1.5%) when dealing AND a fee based on the capital value of the portfolio as a whole and charged every quarter. This management fee covers the research teams, custody of certificates, currency charges and both platforms and instruments that are not usually available to the private investor.

Of course, wealth managers get things hopelessly wrong from time to time and mine is no exception. These are rare and because they are dispassionate on what is within the portfolio, they tend to make rational decisions to buy, sell, add, reduce, whether to add and timing. They do not pretend to be watching like a hawk the nuances of the day, or an individual account. They do look at accounts on at least a monthly basis and sometimes more frequently.

I hope this helps.
I hope that begins to explain

Well, that is kind of you, though not a consequence decided by me. Let me expand. For the last 45 years, my working life, I have tried to put a percentage of my monthly salary to work. I have made many poor decisions but rather more better ones and was able to engage a wealth manager in 2008 to manage my portfolio.

I have reached the point in my life where a generation has closed and I am the recent recipient of capital to approximate half of my invested wealth. This needs to be put to work as I prepare for the 20-30 year likely window for succession. Oddly enough this same time frame needs to see me and my wife (we), through a comfortable retirement. My portfolio is thus structured for capital growth at HIGH risk.

Inheritance allows us to be ambitious in our investment choice. Immediately before inheriting, the average invested sum was £10,000 per bargain. We have 75 holdings. Since initial receipt of cash, this has increased to 90 holdings (of which this is one), have disposed of 4 holdings and strengthened others. The average investment per holding has increased to £12,500 and am sitting on cash of slightly under £47,000. This cash will be sheltered in ISA (for investment) unless there is a compelling reason to add to my portfolio in the next few weeks.

2022 was a dreadful year in terms of my portfolio performance, down over 20%. It took a full 1% off my average growth over my working life to 13.5% compound. 2023 has started off well (often does in January) and I am up almost 2.93% overall. I am expecting growth this year of 16% including re-invested dividends. Currently running slightly ahead of expectation, but far too early at this stage to matter.

FWIW, I am expecting a long recession in the UK and a short one in US. It does not follow that stock marklets will continue to fall. Volatile in the first qtr, stability in 2nd and am bull market for 10 years from 3rd. Ever the optimist !!

Driftking27, while it is highly likely that the UK will be in recession, it does not automatically follow that countries that buy raw materials will also fall into recession. There is an improving economy in US, China is opening up again and Europe is hinting that any recession will be of short duration.

FWIW, I am in no hurry to dispose of my holding. Much happier to run and add to my winners. Bitter experience has demonstrated to me that adding good money to bad doesn’t work. I am still guilty of hanging onto losers for longer than I should.

2023 has started off well, DOW had a good day on Friday and should translate to a good day on Monday for the rest of the world. I’ll continue to add as finances permit.

Added again yesterday afternoon to my holding. January usually sucks money into markets.

Portfolio is structured for capital growth so have made a purchase yesterday afternoon.

January is often a good month for stock markets around the world. I attribute this to bonuses at Christmas being put to work. The flies in the ointment are recession and Russia. From what I can determine is that USA is likely to narrowly avoid recession, but markets will remain sensitive. I don’t buy the doom that the UK will have a deep recession, though I do expect it to be quite prolonged.

The recent change is policy by China has allowed PRU to pick up her skirts, so I am keen to average this holding up once some of the froth in the share price has settled.

RIO has a DRIP in place if that is of interest. I prefer to take dividends as cash. When special dividends are made, it demonstrates (to me) that the managers cannot use the cash for any immediate (6 mth) advantage. Share buybacks have no meaningful advantage to private investors.

China building came to a bit of a standstill in 2022 but I do expect infrastructure to pickup in 2023. This might not translate to any growth in dividend return so a final dividend in region of 150p would be my guess. Not sure if this is helpful.

Bull case includes mining supercycle, existing infrastructure always requires maintenance, new infrastructure absorbs government debt. USA, China, India and EU are putting new infrastrucutre projects in place. So too are many other countries like Brazil and Vietnam but have political distraction. Bear case has recession in prospect for many countries, few countries focussed on major infrastructure projects, UK has domestic issues that has greater focus.

Thank you. In meanwhile, I have bought in similar size chunks, shares in 6 other equities and 2 investment trusts. Am holding back cash of a similar amount and will review holdings with brokers and advisors in January. I hope to be fully invested by June 2023 but it rather depends on how severe recession is in America.

Spikeyj, having suffered 11 family funerals this year, my portfolio fell over 6, though not quite 7 figures, I find myself landed with after IHT cash amounting to 20% portfolio. That I have invested some £40,000 or so last week is pretty trivial for many, certainly it is for my portfolio as a whole. My intent is for capital growth. I care not for timing.

That AZN has had a good year is of interest. I prefer to average up, not down and run winners not support losers. It has worked well in the last 40 years or so. The difference is that nowadays, I can afford to take higher risk as I do not hold in any equity more than 2% wealth as determined in the bid value of my portfolio.

Perhaps you have more experience as an investor than me, but until there is compelling evidence to heed your contributions, there is little to be gained by me from prolonging debate.

The Chinese policy of zero tolerence to Covid, I suspect has backfired dreadfully to lose the "crown", if that is the correct expression, as the workshop for the world. India, I hope, (for that is where I have chucked a large chunk of cash today) will take on that mantle. So, although I have little knowledge of the individual holdings, the managers have a decent reputation that I hope will benefit my quest for capital growth through my appetite for higher risk

I've doubled my holding with another purchase today

Dipped a toe in today in anticipation of a better year ahead

I was one such buyer. Dipped a toe in today in anticipation of a better year ahead

Doubled my holding today in anticipation of a better year ahead