Blogs

Latest Blogs

The New Realities and Private Healthcare

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. The editorial in this week’s Investors' Chronicle was full of doom and gloom. Under the headline “Facing up to new realities” the editor said “The threats identified by the WEF (World Economic Forum at Davos) include climate change, the cost of living crisis, geopolitical confrontation, high debt levels, recession, low growth, social unrest and cyber crime. These crises are converging, it says, to shape a ...

Portfolio Review 2022 – Mark Bentley

This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Introduction Following on from my reviews in 2020 and 2021, I have now conducted a similar exercise for 2022. See my 2020 review for an explanation of my investment objectives, strategy, "asset types" and investment accounts. My 2021 review can be found here. I think most investors will have found 2022 a difficult year and I was no exception! See "Results Breakdown" below for the gory details. Whilst my complete portfolio ...

VCTs: great tax breaks- but are they delivering returns?

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc Wealth Club send me loads of useful emails and recently one arrived with this table of VCT returns over the past 10 years. For comparison, I am reminded (source eToro) that since 1926 the S&P has provided an average compound return of 10.2%. Click here for performance data provided by Wealth Club Source: Morningstar, Wealth Club. Data to 30 September 2022. Past performance is not a guide ...

Fundsmith Annual Investor Letter

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Terry Smith has published his thirteenth annual letter for investors in the Fundsmith Equity Fund (which I hold). As usual it’s a good mixture of sound analysis of market events and witticisms. I’ll cover a few significant points: The fund underperformed the MSCI World Index with a total return of minus 13.8%, which was better than my own portfolio. As he points out, the only way ...

Year End Portfolio Review of 2022 – Roger Lawson

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. As I have published in previous years, here is a review of my own stock market portfolio performance in the calendar year 2022. I’ll repeat what I said last year to warn readers that I write this for the education of those new to investing because I have no doubt that some experienced investors will have done a lot better than me, while some may ...