I’m a middle-aged private investor, based a healthy distance north of London, with a fondness for investment trusts. Married. Two kids. All the usual sort of stuff.
My name is Stuart Watson and I worked as an accountant for several years in the 1990s, first in auditing and then in corporate finance. Then I spent about 20 years working for The Motley Fool UK, performing various editorial and operational roles.
I’m now working part-time, doing various bits and bobs, including writing this blog and producing regular content for Money Makers, a subscription site set up by Jonathan Davis, the editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook.
I can’t remember exactly how I first came across investment trusts, but I do recall being attracted by the monthly savings plans that most of them offered back in the 1990s.
My monthly investments were topped up with a few lump sums now and then. It was amazing to see how quickly they grew into a meaningful amount.
I’ve owned over forty different investment trusts over the years and I typically look to hold them for several years. I’m not a fan of market timing so I tend to stay fully invested.
However, I do wish I had more patience with many of my early holdings. For example, I was a fairly early investor in Henderson Technology Trust (now Polar Capital Technology) but sold out in 2004. And I had a position in Finsbury Worldwide Pharmaceutical in the 1990s, now known as Worldwide Healthcare Trust. I’ve recently bought back into this trust, but at a much higher price than I sold it at.
I have also been a fairly active investor in individual company shares over the years. But I found that my investment trust holdings seemed to do a little better and with much less effort and stress. As a result, investment trusts have increasingly come to dominate my portfolio.
Many of my posts are to clarify my thoughts about the investments I hold and to act as a reference point for the future. However, there are a lot of investment trusts, and indeed whole sectors, that I am not particularly familiar with. I find writing blog posts about these can be a great way of researching them.
I also touch on topics like investing for kids, pensions, taxes, financial independence, and behavioural finance.
The views expressed on this site are my own. I don’t receive any money from any investment trust or fund manager in relation to what appears here. However, I have added some basic advertising to cover my costs and as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through links on this site.
I write about investment trusts that I already own and others that I am interested in purchasing. I’ll try to make it clear in the article whenever that happens but I’ve also added a portfolio page that lists all my current holdings.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing you read on this site should be considered as any sort of financial advice or as a buy, hold or sell recommendation. Think of me as a passionate amateur rather than an informed professional. Just because I think something might work for me, that doesn’t mean it’s suitable for other people.
As the usual warning says, you should always do your own research before making any investment decision.
If you want to be alerted about any new articles that I publish then you can follow me on Twitter or sign up to my email list.
To explore some of my old articles, please head over to my index page where they are all sorted into categories.
You can also search my site by entering some keywords in the box below…
Please note that I may own some of the investments mentioned above -- you can see my current holdings on my portfolio page.
Nothing on this website should be regarded as a buy or sell recommendation as I'm just a random person writing a blog in his spare time and I am not authorised to give financial advice. Always do your own research and seek financial advice if necessary!
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Bookmarked, looking forward to reading more articles. Hope your brave journey into blogging proves to be a success.
Thanks Jon. It's been an interesting journey already -- setting up a blog is certainly very educational in itself.
Found your site from Monevator today.
Glad to see a fellow blogger using Tsohost.
As well as helping the investment thought process, I have (unexpectedly) found writing an informative blog can bring all sorts of interesting snippets through the contact form.
You may even receive offers for writing work (especially if you drop the anonymity!).
Happy blogging!
Maynard
Thanks, Maynard! I suspect I will add more details over time. And you certainly do get something interesting feedback and ideas via the contact form :-)
I have not received any email regarding the subscription.I got the information from monevator.Thanks.
Chandra
Thanks for letting me know Chandra. I've resent you the activation email so hopefully it will get through this time. Assuming you haven't done so already, it may be worth checking your spam folder.
Recently found IT Investor, interesting and helpful.
You are very positive of small caps. Bernstein's analysis of small caps found a negative return for as long as 30 years, I know there are other studies which are more positive. Large caps provide a cushion in tough times which may be approaching. In a down turn small caps disappear but you can sell large caps at a discount and you then have money to pickup bargains.
I hope you will take this as a positive contribution.
Thanks, Nigel. No problem with a different point of view.
I don't think I have come across that particular study, but all strategies seem to wax and wane (although 30 years would certainly test my patience!). Small caps have certainly done well over the last ten years, although not so much the last few of those.
From my point of view, small-caps aren't a major bet as they are less than 10% of my portfolio. I'm still building up my exposure, though.
Hello
I've tried a number of times to subscribe to your site, but unfortunately the Confirmation email never seems to come through (to either the inbox or to spam)
Could you send me through a confirmation email when you have time.
Thanks in advance
PJ
Hi PJ,
Sorry to hear you've had problems with this.
I've just resent the activation email. If you still haven't recevied it, please let me know and I can add you to the email list manually.
Hello again,
Never did receive that activation email (see above) in Sept 2019.
Also have tried a few times since (inc just now) to subscribe to the site - but no activation email comes through.
Could I trouble you to add me to your email list manually as you suggested above.
Many thanks in advance
PJ
Hi PJ,
Sorry that didn't work for you before. I've added you manually so hopefully that will do the trick.
The next email should go out this Tuesday afternoon.
Dear IT Investor
Same as above - have signed up for your emailed newsletter / updates, but yet to receive a confirmation, despite repeating the process and checking my junk folder a few times. Would v much appreciate being added to your list!
Kind regards,
Tom
Hi Tom,
Sorry that you had problems signing up but you should be all set now. There may not be an article this week but you should get the next alert when I di publish one.
Hello Tom,
Like you I'm an active investor and also operate professionally in the market.
It would be interesting to have a conversation with you if you'd like to supply a contact email.
Kind regards,
Ian Furtado
Hi,
I have tried signing up to your blog a couple of times over the last year and again today but have yet to receive a confirmation email. Can you sort 'it' out for me please.
Thanks
Sean
@ Sean,
Sorry that didn't work for you. I've added you manually now, so you should be all set.