My Portfolio

30 June 2016
By Maynard Paton

Happy Thursday! I hope you continue to find my Blog useful… and that your portfolio has fared much better than mine during the Brexit turmoil!

Yes… a few of my shares have been thumped of late and, for me at least, 2016 is fast becoming a somewhat grim year. At the end of March I was down 5% and by today’s close I was down 10%.

I must confess, the decent gain I enjoyed during 2015 now seems like a lifetime ago :-(

Still, markets never go up — or down — for ever.

I mean, Warren Buffett always reckons we should “be greedy when others are fearful”…

…and all that me, you and every other private investor can do in times like these is to simply find decent companies at attractive valuations and just hold them for the long haul.

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31 March 2016
By Maynard Paton

Happy Thursday! I hope you continue to find my Blog useful… and that your portfolio has started 2016 better than mine!

After enjoying a decent gain for 2015, I suppose it was inevitable I’d soon endure a rough time. And sure enough, some of my larger winners of last year succumbed to the market’s sharp falls during January and February.

That said, my portfolio has not been a total disaster — I’m down 5% so far this year. It’s not a great performance, but I am generally happy with the shares I own and I look forward to some sort of recovery! 

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01 January 2016
By Maynard Paton

Happy 2016! I trust you have enjoyed a successful year’s investing and that you continue to find my Blog useful.

I’m currently celebrating my first anniversary as a full-time investor — and I must admit I am quite pleased (and relieved!) how things have turned out so far.

True, 2015 has seen some market ups and downs. I have to confess, August and September were not easy months for me. I watched my portfolio shrink as shares in general fell heavily… and I suddenly discovered what it was like not to have a regular salary to average down! I guess that was an experience I will just have to get used to.

Anyway, I’m thankful the final three months of the year saw my shares mostly recover. So finding paid employment is still not on the cards just yet :-)

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30 September 2015
By Maynard Paton

Happy Wednesday! I trust you have not lost too much money in this choppy market and that you continue to find my Blog useful.

I’ve been in this full-time investment lark for nine months now — and I must admit the last few weeks have been somewhat testing.

Sure, I have invested through corrections and bear markets before — but such downturns are far easier to cope with when I could use my regular salary to average down!

Now without a salary, I’ve come to appreciate why so many private investors ‘panic sell’. They too are living off their portfolios and wish to preserve their capital… because they do not want to go back to work!

All that said, my portfolio of late has not been a total disaster and I think I am still up on the year so far. So finding paid employment is not on the cards just yet!

Recent market movements have meant that I have become a little more active with my portfolio. I have top-sliced a few positions in order to free up some cash for reinvestment, and bought a brand-new holding.

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30 June 2015
By Maynard Paton

Happy Tuesday! I trust your shares are holding up in this tricky market and that you continue to find my Blog useful.

I’ve been in this full-time investment lark for six months now — and I am pleased to say that I have still not lost everything just yet!

Indeed, my portfolio has witnessed further gains of late — so much so that I reckon I am now beating the market so far this year. Nonetheless, I continue to hold a few standstill shares that I would love to see move higher!

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31 March 2015
By Maynard Paton

Happy Tuesday! I trust your shares are doing well and that you are finding my Blog useful.

It’s now been three months since I started this full-time investment lark — and I am pleased to confirm that I have not gone broke just yet!

On the contrary, my portfolio has registered a small gain since the start of the year — although I must admit it has lagged what’s generally been a strong market. I just hope some buyers will soon alight on my marooned holdings!

Anyway, during the last three months I have found writing this Blog very helpful. This quote from Warren Buffett sums up why:

“There is nothing like writing to force you to think and get your thoughts straight.”

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05 January 2015
By Maynard Paton

So it’s early January and the time of year when we all resolve (once again!) to improve our stock-picking for the forthcoming twelve months.

But for me — starting out as a full-time investor — I really do need to ensure my portfolio does not fall apart during 2015.

I mean, my future wealth is now entirely dependent on my investing skills, and I certainly do not want to end up broke by Easter!

As such, I’ve decided to bypass the usual New Year resolutions to instead go for some serious-sounding commandments — which I hope I can strictly obey to avoid financial ruin!

Sadly I do not have any spare stone tablets lying around at home, so I’ve made do with this Blog post for the inscribing:

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02 January 2015
By Maynard Paton

Today I’m going to follow-up my Year In Review 2014 by evaluating my portfolio’s 2014 performance in a bit more detail.

This evaluation is another useful exercise I like to perform at the start of every year. It’s just that I always want to know where all my gains (and losses!) occurred during the previous twelve months, and to see whether my portfolio decisions were consistently good, bad or indifferent!

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01 January 2015
By Maynard Paton

Happy New Year!

I trust you enjoyed the festive break and are now raring to do battle with the market for another twelve months!

This first Blog post of 2015 provides a short ‘year-in-review’ for each of my current portfolio holdings.

I find writing such reviews extremely useful, not least because it encourages me to double-check my investment logic to ensure I am still invested for all the right reasons.

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