Top 14 positions (not in a Kama Sutra kind of way 😄🙄)

[1anrs (Allan Scott)]

Yes, I have exactly the same problem as I mentioned on the Evraz thread. Luckily it was only £70 I spent on them but I’ve written it off.

[weenie]

My cash is there for the 3% interest, like @Anders

And yes, it’s a real struggle and challenge to leave it uninvested.

[Eden]

@weenie

My cash is there for the 3% interest, like @Anders

How have you balanced the 3% interest (if that’s the only reason to hold on cash? Maybe not?) vs investing in say infrastructure where the price is usually stable or growing plus over 3% returns in cash

[weenie]

@Eden

if that’s the only reason to hold on cash? Maybe not?

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

[Eden]

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

[jwt]

Someone likes Terry Smith

[rehpot]

Yep, I’m a big fan of his ‘buy quality businesses, don’t overpay, do nothing’ approach.

[SB426 (Sarah)]

That’s my top 14

[Indefatigable]

Can just about see the 14th one.

[jamesthemonkeh (James Winfield)]

Nobody else believes in M&S then?!

Portfolio is resources-heavy, which saw me through the dark days without plunging too much…though now I’m not keeping up with the recovery elsewhere. So be it.

[Eden]

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

That’s not why I don’t invest though. Im not invested in any retail/clothing company directly.

[MalaiseForever (Ethan)]

That’s not just any portfolio, that’s an M&S portfolio…

Interested to hear your thoughts on M&S?

[jamesthemonkeh (James Winfield)]

Well I work for M&S so I’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 I’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 2019…writing this off the top of my head.

When I started there 3 years ago I constantly heard “revenue is lower than target” many weeks…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 forecasted…because we’ve been selling at full price. And we started our sale later than other retailers…because we’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 I’m biased because I work there, and very possible I’m only seeing the good news and the exciting parts. One expects the upcoming likely recession to be tricky for profits…but so far, I don’t think it has…though maybe wait until the next update from the financial bods rather than little old me!

[Optimisery (Celia)]

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.

[MalaiseForever (Ethan)]

You’ve convinced me. Worth a punt!

[MarkD]

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

[TheRaven (John)]

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

[DJK93]

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!

Here’s my Top and only 14! Couple of caveats - I’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.

[Alex5 (Alessio)]

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

[jamesthemonkeh (James Winfield)]

It’s just my perception from working there - don’t blame me if the shares tank again