Last updated: 16 December 2023
By Maynard Paton
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Some of you may already recognise my name, as I wrote investment articles and emails for The Motley Fool UK between 1999 and 2014.
At the start of 2015 I became a full-time private investor.
I have outlined what I did to get there within How Shares Helped Me Quit The Day Job and My Story To Becoming Mortgage-Free And Retiring Early.
From September 2018, I have enjoyed a small side-income from writing SharePad articles that now includes SharePad affiliate-link commissions.
I created this blog simply to collate all my investment posts in one place, rather than have them spread over various websites.
I have always believed publishing my investment thoughts and research could help improve my portfolio returns.
In particular, writing down exactly why I have bought a share — knowing that others will read the text and try to pick holes — has always forced me to assess the upside potential and downside risks of my investments in greater depth.
Publishing also persuades me to keep my share ideas simple. When a write-up starts to become lengthy and complicated, I have often found the company in question comes with higher risks and therefore more chance of disappointment.
I have developed my investing approach after 25-plus years of learning about the stock market and experiencing what actually works for me. Here is a full explanation of How I Invest.
An unexpected bonus of writing this blog are the informative snippets that arrive through this contact form. Many thanks to everyone that has sent a message. You can contact me here.
An unexpected bonus of writing SharePad articles is being featured in the newspapers:
This page provides the complete A-Z list of the companies I have written about on my blog and for SharePad.
Here is a summary of my portfolio and performance.
You can receive an inbox alert to every new blog post by submitting your email here.
I am no longer active on social media, but you can nevertheless still follow me on (what was) Twitter.
And this is why I use SharePad to select my shares.
Unlike most other investment bloggers, commentators, writers and social-media gurus:
- I do not hide behind a pseudonym;
- I publish my portfolio’s holdings and returns, and;
- I maintain a free-to-read website with no Google adverts, no subscription fees and no mandatory email registration.
Please note all opinions on this blog are mine. I would urge you to read my DISCLAIMER.
Furthermore, please understand this blog is a personal project. Posts may be infrequent and the site’s layout may appear peculiar at times as I experiment with WordPress and plugins.
I hope you enjoy the blog.
Happy Investing!
Maynard Paton
