There are periods in markets when safety feels less like a portfolio strategy and more like a rumour. The start of 2026 feels like one of them. The difficulty isn’t simply that share prices are falling. Markets do that from time to time, and any investor with a little experience understands that drawdowns are part […]
ISA Season Investing: What Safety Really Means in a Falling Market Read More »
Every January, investors conduct the same familiar exercise – an exercise which is rapidly approach again. Twelve months of market activity are compressed into a neat sequence of charts and percentages, then we draw conclusions with an air of finality that the underlying evidence does not support. The problem is not that annual reviews exist.
In a world fixated on speed, volatility, and the illusion of instant returns, the true edge in investing remains unchanged: patience, discipline, and long-term thinking. It’s easy to be swept up in the noise – social media trends, algorithmic trades, and investment fads that vanish as quickly as they rise. But as any seasoned investor
Investor Summit 2025: Why Long-Term Investors Should Be Paying Attention Read More »
There is, among novice investors, a persistent tendency toward feverish impatience. When markets tremble, headlines blare, and portfolios lurch, the inexperienced are seized by a dangerous impulse: to act immediately, and often unwisely. Yet it is precisely in such moments that the wiser course is often one of stillness. When global markets collapse, even the
Navigating Volatility: Lessons from the Classics Read More »
In times of market tumult, when the daily headlines scream fear and the broader public scurries for the exits, the seasoned investor remains calm. For those of us with a long-term horizon and a preference for businesses of enduring substance, such periods offer something truly rare: the opportunity to acquire quality at a discount. In
How to Find Quality Companies During a Market Downturn Read More »
Before we begin, I must extend a word of apology to regular readers for my absence for the past three months. Life, as it sometimes does, has gathered pace – not least due to the demands of a recent promotion in my professional role, as well as the growing commitments of the podcast. Though I
Steady Hands and Seasoned Judgment: Meditations on the Spring Investment Landscape Read More »
The world of investing is, by its very nature, a realm of uncertainty. No matter how sophisticated our tools, how robust our strategies, or how informed our decisions, the future remains fundamentally unknowable. Yet, paradoxically, it is within this uncertainty that great opportunities lie. The art and science of investing hinge not on eliminating uncertainty
Embracing Uncertainty: The Investor’s Path to Acceptance Read More »
In last month’s article, I published a brief overview of the UK’s investment budget and explored how some of the changes may impact the investing landscape. Since then, reactions to the budget have turned decidedly sour, with most investors now resigning themselves to the view that the new Labour government are saying one thing and
How to Build an Investing Watchlist: A Timeless Guide for the Prudent Investor Read More »
Before making on start on this next article, I would advise going back and making sure you’ve digested part one of this series if you haven’t already. Part one lays the essential foundations of the series and can be accessed via the following link: Thinking like a long-term investor: Part 1 of 2 Human nature
In today’s article, I want to expand on what I mean when I say that I’m a long-term investor and give some tips and tricks I find helpful for both cultivating and sticking to, this mindset. In my experience, less “trading” activity and longer holding periods have generally led to superior results, with my largest
Thinking like a long-term investor – Part 1 of 2 Read More »
In my previous article about investing for income, I explored a brief checklist of ideas for selecting income stocks and building an income-focussed portfolio. In today’s article, I’ve assumed that you’ve gone ahead and selected a few shares that fit these criteria and are now wondering how to manage them. I’ve written multiple articles before
What is investing for income? A few weeks ago, I was talking to an investor about my approach and described myself as “primarily a value investor with a dash of income investor on the side”. Over the course of the following conversation, I went on to talk through my approach to investing for income, which
Having explored the idea of a quality company in my previous article, I wanted to follow up with an important caveat: price matters and my own approach is now more focussed on investing quality at a reasonable price than simply buying cheap companies. Without working to determine a fair valuation for an asset, an investor
“In the short-term the stock market is a voting machine but in the long-term it is a weighing machine.” Warren Buffett To some degree, I have always cared about ensuring that my approach is focused on investing in quality companies and have therefore used quality as a driver for what to buy and sell. Over
A few weeks ago, I was speaking to a newer investor who had listened to an episode of the podcast and had heard me talking about being “down 40, 50, 60%” on an investment. As someone that hadn’t been investing long, this had concerned them, and they wrote in to ask if I could clarify
