Top 14 positions (not in a Kama Sutra kind of way šŸ˜„šŸ™„)

Itā€™s my emergency cash and itā€™s in there only because thereā€™s no cash ISA which pays 3% interest currently. So itā€™s not part of my portfolio nor am I planning to invest with it, although itā€™s very hard to resist!

4 Likes

Ah makes sense. I put that elsewhere despite the slightly lower interest to avoid that temptation :smile:

3 Likes

Someone likes Terry Smith

1 Like

Yep, Iā€™m a big fan of his ā€˜buy quality businesses, donā€™t overpay, do nothingā€™ approach.

1 Like

image
Thatā€™s my top 14

3 Likes

Can just about see the 14th one.

3 Likes

Nobody else believes in M&S then?!

Portfolio is resources-heavy, which saw me through the dark days without plunging too muchā€¦though now Iā€™m not keeping up with the recovery elsewhere. So be it.

3 Likes

You know what I like about M&S, their cafeā€™s. Love them, love the sandwiches with a drink. You know whatā€™s so dumb about M&S? Every store that has a cafe seems to hide it.

Thatā€™s not why I donā€™t invest though. Im not invested in any retail/clothing company directly.

3 Likes

Thatā€™s not just any portfolio, thatā€™s an M&S portfolioā€¦

Interested to hear your thoughts on M&S?

5 Likes

Well I work for M&S so Iā€™m biased.

I feel like online retail world for clothing is becoming large marketplaces with various associated smaller brands, ASOS, Boohoo, Zalando, Next are obvious examples, but by expanding to brands I think M&S has stumbled into this too.

We are putting significant resources into completely revamping our tech side - we are still planning to hire out many engineers as we grow online. Sure, everyone is, but from what Iā€™ve seen of the data science side (for example) at other retail companies, we are miles ahead of them but nowhere near fully utilising.

Fundamentals are decent, p/e of 9 for example, debt is reducing, performance is better in terms of both revenue and profit (I think!) than 2019ā€¦writing this off the top of my head.

When I started there 3 years ago I constantly heard ā€œrevenue is lower than targetā€ many weeksā€¦but now, at least when I actually join such calls, everything seems to be positive. For example, we had much less stock to put in the summer sale than forecastedā€¦because weā€™ve been selling at full price. And we started our sale later than other retailersā€¦because weā€™ve been selling at full price.

Plus in software engineering, where I work, we are light years ahead of where we were 3 years ago when I joined, with a huge website modernisation project just starting.

Of course, I think it likely Iā€™m biased because I work there, and very possible Iā€™m only seeing the good news and the exciting parts. One expects the upcoming likely recession to be tricky for profitsā€¦but so far, I donā€™t think it hasā€¦though maybe wait until the next update from the financial bods rather than little old me!

8 Likes

Always great to hear an insiders point of view. Thank You.

My mum was only talking this week about the vast difference in their clothing offering (More Modern lines).

I love M&S Food, bit pricey for me nowadays, but they do it really well.

1 Like

Youā€™ve convinced me. Worth a punt!

My top 12 - I can only fit 12 on my screen. Next 2 are Global Clean Energy and Target.

2 Likes

M&S going on my watchlist and I may well buy back in soon. That kind of info is very good to know - as good as listening to an interview with the CEO in my opinion.
Cheers

1 Like

Thanks for the M&S info, I had a very small amount in them for about 6 months last year, would be tempted to dip back in again!

Hereā€™s my Top and only 14! Couple of caveats - Iā€™ve held Royal Mail since 2013 when they were listed (my dad worked for them). I also have a Global Tracker Fund which is the other 50% of my portfolio.

6 Likes

Freetrade is my second biggest holding (calculated at Ā£9.25 per share). I have various global indices and S&P 500s ETF that if aggregated together would make the top 14.


3 Likes

Itā€™s just my perception from working there - donā€™t blame me if the shares tank again :wink:

2 Likes

No would never do that.

Everyone investing is responsible for their own decisions.

Anyhow, Iā€™m off to shop in M&S Aintree for some holiday gear today. :grinning: :+1: :flight_departure: :beach_umbrella: :beer: :tropical_drink: :sunglasses:

5 Likes

Here is a screenshot from my SIPP where I try to keep 70% in ETFā€™s and around 30% in individual UK stock with high dividend yield .RR is an exception where I took a bit of a gamble.
I have my work pension with AVIVA and I am really glad that I can do monthly partial transfers and avoid their management fees with some terrible underperforming managed funds.

3 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 416 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.