S&S ISA critique please?

jem16

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

I am sure you would agree it would be only fair for the board to assist them by offering constructive criticism in fair return?

Why when he obviously doesn't need it?

I am sure there are some very experienced people here who can help.

Investing is about opinion. Many experienced people will have many different opinions. What is right for one will not be right for another.

Unfortunately there are many on here who would be guided in the wrong direction by experienced posters such as bowlhead and dunstonh posting their portfolios.

grizzly1911

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

I don't think it would be egotistical.

Aren't you up for some constructive criticism from people on this board then to assist you in your investment journey?

Strikes me we may find it difficult to be construct any comment on the sort of stuff that bowlhead holds.

badger09

Even as a novice investor, I'm not interested in the detail of others' portfolios - not even those of the very experienced investors on here:cool:.

I'm sure their reasons for holding the particular Funds, ITs UTs, RIETs Stocks, Bonds, Gilts etc etc they hold, would be fascinating to some, but unless one is intending to clone dunstonh's or bolwhead's portfolios what is the point in asking them to reveal all? I am not dunstonh or bowlhead though, (nor is anyone else) and their investments might be totally wrong for me, and disastrous for other newbies :eek:.

Most people who post their portfolios are looking for help or reassurance. The guys I mention above (and others like them) clearly need neither. It is enough for me,that they make general comments and give their opinions.

And to be honest the thought of A Flock of Sheep assisting them by constructively criticising their portfolios is simply :rotfl::rotfl:

No offence Sheep:p

bowlhead99

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

Even my early work portfolio seemed more balanced and diversified than that.

It wasn't really though.
- You had three UK equity income funds, while this poster has one of them, a UK growth fund and a UK non-ftse 100 long/short equities fund.

- You both had Newton Asian Income

- You went country specific in Japan and Turkey, he went region specific in South East Asia and sector specific in Global technology.

He also mentioned some individual companies he had selected within his ISA, you didn't (initially) mention the individual shares you had. But it seems that his are there by conscious choice while most of yours are only owned because you got them free or bought them in a privatisation 30 years ago or your husband selected them ages ago and you haven't got the heart or the investment knowledge to convince yourself whether or not to sell. It seems strange that you hang on to them while getting out of all your funds to sit in cash and rebuild because you think the markets might go down diddly down down.

Which of the two portfolios would perform better is unknown but I don't think he has really done a worse job than you did of putting a portfolio together (subject to the caveat that we don't know what he is really aiming for, it sounds like he is just wondering what gaps he could consider filling).

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

You misjudge me. I appreciate their posts and found them to be most helpful. I am sure you would agree it would be only fair for the board to assist them by offering constructive criticism in fair return? I am sure there are some very experienced people here who can help.

It's sometimes difficult to work out what people are thinking when things are written on a forum rather than said face to face and it's easy to misjudge.

It's true an outside perspective can help rationalise or improve decisions. Though to be honest, if I help a newbie investor I don't then expect him to be able to help me back on the same subject, though I may well learn things from other posts I read here from him or her on other subjects. And there are plenty of other people I can pick up tips from, if I'm looking for them.

jem16 wrote: »

Unfortunately there are many on here who would be guided in the wrong direction by experienced posters such as bowlhead and dunstonh posting their portfolios.

I think that's true. I expect being a professional, dunstonh is more likely to practice the concepts he preaches than I am, but few if any many people will come out of a meeting with an IFA where he's prescribed them his own portfolio. The whole regulatory oversight of the personal financial advice industry is built on suitability for purpose and it is not one size fits all.

You definitely learn faster by NOT being the smartest person in the room, and I'm sure I'm not the smartest tool in this shed, plenty of people here have bright ideas and fresh perspectives and articulate them well, which is why I've spent quite a bit of time on these forums over recent months.

If your knowledge level behind them in a particular subject area is 10-20% off the pace, you can catch up if you put the thinking time in. The problem is that if your knowledge level is 90% behind them, or you're not the kind of person that puts thinking time in, you might struggle to take on board what they are saying. So even if they spend hours explaining exactly what they bought why with a billion caveats, you might misinterpret it and end up padding out your portfolio with something that is downright wrong for you or fundamentally misunderstood.

So, I'll continue to (hopefully) constructively criticize the portfolios of others, without (usually) going as far as saying 'I hold this and that in these proportions and I work in the investment sector which shows I must know what I'm doing'. I am not an investment manager nor an IFA, and doing that could be dangerous for new investors, as jem16 suggests.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

Well my "worse job" landed me gains of just shy of £4000 over four months so I am not complaining about my efforts.

Reminds me a bit of the two Ronnies sketch when the novice squash player thrashes the more seasoned!

bowlhead99

badger09 wrote: »

I am not dunstonh or bowlhead though, (nor is anyone else) and their investments might be totally wrong for me, and disastrous for other newbies :eek:

If the MSE > Pure Money > Savings & Investments forum were turned into a movie by M. Night Shyamalan....

... A Flock of Sheep WAS DUNSTONH ALL ALONG !!!!!!1!!!!one!!!

badger09

bowlhead99 wrote: »

If the MSE > Pure Money > Savings & Investments forum were turned into a movie by M. Night Shyamalan....

... A Flock of Sheep WAS DUNSTONH ALL ALONG !!!!!!1!!!!one!!!

Or she was his secret lovechild by his girlfriend's mother's lodger a la Jeremy Kyle :eek:

(Only seen it once on holiday with family who have TV on 24/7 )

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

badger09 wrote: »

And to be honest the thought of A Flock of Sheep assisting them by constructively criticising their portfolios is simply :rotfl::rotfl:

No offence Sheep:p

No offence taken - I wasn't aware I (personally) had even offered criticism. Perhaps you can remind me where I did?

badger09

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

No offence taken - I wasn't aware I (personally) had even offered criticism. Perhaps you can remind me where I did?

Good

This?

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

You misjudge me. I appreciate their posts and found them to be most helpful. I am sure you would agree it would be only fair for the board to assist them by offering constructive criticism in fair return? I am sure there are some very experienced people here who can help.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

Yes you seem to have me mixed up with where I state

"I am sure there are some VERY EXPERIENCED people here who can help"

I have never admitted to being experienced. Sorry to confuse you.