Forever Investor - Buy and hold, hopefully forever...

Stocks

AstraZeneca – AGM 2015

- April 26, 2015May 16, 2020 - FI comment

Treating myself to a well-earned day off work yesterday, I decided to take the opportunity to attend my first corporate Annual General Meeting. Nominee Accounts Up to this point I had never been entirely confident that I could do…

The Outsiders

- April 21, 2015May 16, 2020 - FI comment

I have just read William N. Thorndike's brilliant The Outsiders, which identifies the traits and techniques of the CEOs that ran (or run) some of the best-managed companies of the last fifty years. A few of…

Portfolio Management

Portfolio Update: Q1

- April 18, 2015May 16, 2020 - FI comment

It has been a while since my last portfolio update, so I thought I would post a quick page about what I have been up to. In terms of total return, I certainly can't complain…

Books

The Most Important Thing

- April 12, 2015May 16, 2020 - FI comment

The Most Important Thing, by Howard Marks, is a thought-provoking book. Rather than focus on rules, formulae, metrics, or ratios, he concentrates on the psychology of investing. While a lot of investment books leave you with…

General / Stocks

Alliance Trust: Here we go again…

- April 7, 2015May 16, 2020 - FI comment

Shares in Alliance Trust, we are told, are the sort of thing that gets passed down from generation to generation; much like a Patek Philippe or the Grandparents' silver teaspoon collection. Another thing that gets passed down is…

Investors / Stocks

Terry Smith and his Six Criteria

- March 15, 2015May 16, 2020 - FI comment

Terry Smith is a man who uses words like a sniper uses bullets and, if you want to read something worthwhile, then his latest report is worth investigating. Of course, nothing beats the original and so any…

Asset Allocation / Berkshire Hathaway/Warren Buffett / General / Portfolio Management

Voya Corporate Leaders — The Really Forever Fund

- March 8, 2015May 16, 2020 - FI comment

The Voya Corporate Leaders Trust Fund was founded on one simple piece of logic - companies that prospered in the Great Depression could prosper in all economic and market conditions. The Trust's founders therefore picked 30…

Dividends

FTSE – It’s a record! (or is it?)

- March 1, 2015May 16, 2020 - FI comment

There was much popping of corks and clinking of glasses in the City last week when the FTSE--finally--managed to surpass its previous closing peak of 6930, which was remarkably set on the last of 1999.…

Stocks

Unilever: Heal Thyself

- February 21, 2015May 16, 2020 - FI comment

Paul Polman must be an ambitious man; not content with the mundane business of attempting to nudge Unilever's earnings higher, he wants to reduce global poverty and address climate change into the bargain. In addition,…

Dividends / Stocks

GlaxoSmithKline: Is the Dividend Safe?

- October 13, 2014May 16, 2020 - FI comment

I have a soft spot for GSK; it was the first serious investment I made after I set up my ISA. It seemed to offer everything I was looking for: relatively cheap starting valuation, steady, predictable growth,…