The markets have been increasingly volatile over the last few months. After an extended period of low volatility, this has caught some investors off-guard, with many piling into ’tipped’ stocks without examining the fundamentals of the company and consequently being surprised when they suffered a sudden drop in value as volatility picked up. Being a […]
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about an on-going crisis in business that is being caused by the Big Four accountancy firms. Recent failures of auditors in the UK have left investors like myself with an increasingly strong feeling that the reports we receive are of no real value in determining how a
The Big Four accountancy firms; KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC are the four largest auditors of modern businesses. They also happen to have overseen the major corporate disasters experienced by Tesco and Carillion whilst declaring these companies to be fit to trade and properly financed. Sadly, despite these disasters, there seems to be a closed
In addition to monthly and quarterly financial reviews, once a year, I take the opportunity to conduct an annual ‘super report’ on my finances, covering everything from account balances to performance against benchmarks and my financial forecasts to setting my strategy for the next twelve months. As part of this exercise, I measure a number
Reader Question: How much of my assets should I keep in cash? Read More »
As an investor who is primarily focused on receiving income from my investments, I am aware of the dangers of falling into a ‘yield trap’. After several years of actively managing a portfolio of investments, I have become better versed with looking beyond the initial headline yield of an investment and learning to assess the
International Women’s Day on the 8th March was an opportunity to raise the profile of women’s issues and celebrate the contribution they make to society. Since a fairly young age, I’ve been interested in personal finance; in a recent survey, I rated my financial knowledge as 8 out of 10, indicating a high level of
Earlier this month, I was talking to a friend about financial literacy and they were telling me that they felt ignorant of so much of what was available to them regarding their finances. They’d set themselves some basic goals – they want enough money to be able to provide a good education for their (as
A reader recently wrote in asking whether I use stop losses during trading. For those readers that aren’t aware of what a stop loss is, it essentially consists of an order to your broker to sell a listed share if it reaches a certain price (usually only in the event of a fall in price
Reader Question: Do I use stop losses in trading? Read More »
Earlier this week, I was talking to a gentleman about letting out property, when I was presented with a barrage of vitriol about how “landlords are all parasitic leeches on society”. He proceeded to reel off a whole stream of examples of how he’d been slighted as a tenant (many of which I could relate
Earlier this year, a friend wrote to me asking for my opinion on Bitcoin. Despite having some meteoric rises in price in 2017, I have been – and still am – firmly against putting money into bitcoin, or any other ICO. Early 2018 has already seen a massive market correction in the price of the
In a previous article, I wrote about the importance of financial literacy – the idea that we can all invest in our understanding our finances. Pick up the average piece of investment literature however and you’ll be bombarded with complicated language, complicated graphics and a probably a general feeling that you can’t quite follow what’s
In numerous previous posts, I’ve written about my preference for income-generating investments, but I’m aware that not everyone has the time (or interest) to actively manage their portfolio. Earlier this month, I was approached by a London-based wealth manager who was pitching for my business. They offered to conduct an initial review (with recommendations) for
In an article I wrote earlier this month, I examined portfolio construction and some of the different assets I use to create a diversified stream of income. In today’s article, I’m looking at high yield bonds (sometimes called junk bonds), which are an asset class I use to boost the yield of my portfolio above
Passive investing, usually entailing the purchase of low-cost index trackers and Exchange Traded Funds, has seen a massive boom in popularity since the financial crash. Numerous financial wizards, including Warren Buffet and John Bogle, have advocated for passive investing, arguing that it’s far more suitable for the majority of investors than active share trading. The
Small cap is a term used to identify company stocks with a relatively low market capitalisation, or the tradeable value of its outstanding shares. The definition of small cap varies among investors, but it is generally considered to be a company with a market capitalisation of less than $2 billion. To calculate a company’s market capitalisation, multiply its
