John's Story

I moved to New York in 1990 and all the “water cooler” talk was about what to invest in next. People were very open about investments. Being new to investing, I hired Merrill Lynch who created and managed my portfolio. By 1994, they had managed to lose money on my portfolio and charged a lot for doing so.

I then started DIY investing by setting up a US Schwab account (also has excellent stock research) and subscribing to a number of research tools. I used a database to choose stocks - particularly stocks I was aware of - and followed a contrarian approach. I was in the semiconductor technology industry and in the late 90’s dot-com boom everything went well – I thought I was the master investor. Although I was aware of asset allocation, I didn’t really follow a balanced portfolio so when the dot-com bubble burst my portfolio got decimated (a great learning period).

In 2001 I returned to the UK with the burning embers of my US portfolio, having learned some very instructive and painful lessons. I retained my portfolio in the US and looked to set up a UK investment portfolio. However, with the limited number of UK tech stocks I decided to pursue more of a global equity-income portfolio. I set up a portfolio at Barclays and used lots of shares magazines etc, but stock selection was still a problem.

In 2011 I joined an Investment Club which helped with stock research however it wasn’t until 2017 that I subscribed to Stockopedia. This has made a significant difference in research and selection of stocks (and funds) and well-aimed articles help in the thinking process.

Stockopedia has given me more confidence in the investment process. Having been through the dot-com bust, the 2008-9 financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic and one of the longest bull markets on record, it is essential to stay invested in the market ensure that platform/trading costs are minimized and that reasonable valuations are used.

Stockopedia is a great source of information to make good investment decisions - so many thanks!

Stockopedia has given me more confidence in the investment process. Having been through the dot-com bust, the 2008-9 financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic and one of the longest bull markets on record, it is essential to stay invested in the market ensure that platform/trading costs are minimized and that reasonable valuations are used.

Stockopedia is a great source of information to make good investment decisions - so many thanks!