Brian's Story

My first investment (about 50 years ago) was on the recommendation of a friend in banking who suggested buying Treasury Stock on the basis that the government had never defaulted and that the growth was known and guaranteed. I also got ideas from newspaper columns and being alerted to company reports on radio and television financial news.

As a result of the above friend's recommendation, I began to take more interest in the markets and read business and money sections of the daily and Sunday papers.

I subscribed to a London-based company that had advisors who would phone you with a stock alert. The advisor expected an "instant" decision and he would then execute the purchase for you. There were some profitable recommendations but apparently the operating procedures were non-compliant with the regulations. Because individual clients were being phoned one after another, not everyone was being given the same opportunity i.e the price could move form between the first and last phone call. A disgruntled subscriber correctly highlighted this and the advisory company ceased trading.

I then subscribed to another advisory service who posted a monthly recommendation/review newsletter. It contained reviews of their monthly "new" recommendations, performance of previous recommendations both including target prices and achievements/losses. The company no longer provides this service for individual investors.

I discovered Stockopedia by change when browsing the internet and subscribed.

With Stockopedia I am much more in control. It can provide much more information very easily and more quickly than by any other means available to me.

I have created screens that I use to assist me. I have now been able to easily include Share Dividends as a selection factor. Previously I hadn't bothered about these. If my purchase benefited from a dividend that was a bonus. Now I am able to consider it more carefully.

I have also found Stockopedia to be a good educational tool helping me to understand many more aspects of investing in shares than I previously knew.

I have previously mentioned that my strategy, probably contrary to most investors, is to hold stocks for short periods and seek small amounts of capital growth. Sometimes this stalls as the market falters.

I am slightly impatient over growth and am happy to take (ideally lots of) small amounts rather than waiting for long term improvements. With this approach, you do need to be active to protect against the losses which usually balance out with a longer-term approach.

With Stockopedia's info, screens, charts, and the Small Cap Value Report I have been much more successful. Most importantly, I am able to act swiftly to benefit from opportunities or to safeguard against problems with a particular stock or sector.

What's your advice for investors that are just starting out?

My advice is that if you want to invest, decide if you want to be a passive or active investor. If you want to be passive, then pass your investments to a knowledgeable person (adviser, fund or whatever) but be prepared to pay for that service........ and for results that might well leave you worse off.

If you want to be active, you must become informed.

Spread your investments. Don't have everything in the stock market. Put some money into the bank, despite the terrible rates and open an ISA. Take out a bond etc.

Be prepared for unpredictable liquidity (at least beyond a level that you might like) as prices fluctuate.

Take profits and enjoy them, but re-invest the capital.

Finally accept that losses as well as profits can be the outcome.