ABOUT MY BLOG

Last updated: 16 December 2023
By Maynard Paton

Maynard Paton
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I am no longer active on social media, but you can nevertheless still follow me on (what was) Twitter.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