For many years it has been the accepted wisdom that you should diversify your investment portfolio. That means diversifying by types of investments – with say, your exposure to the stock market balanced by more cautious investments in bonds and, perhaps, funds that invest in property. Common wisdom says you…

You have likely heard the terms ‘bull market’ and ‘bear market.’ A bull market is one where stock markets are rising and investors are feeling confident: a bear market is the opposite. ‘Bullish’ has even come to be used in a wider sense, meaning generally optimistic: “I’m feeling bullish about…

We all know that interest rates are at historic lows – and with them showing no sign of increasing in the near future, you could be forgiven for thinking that Cash ISAs would be quickly losing their popularity. Despite the fact that even significant levels of saving don’t get much…

Many of you will have heard the old stock market maxim; ‘Sell in May and go away.’ It ended with, ‘Don’t come back until St. Leger day’ and held that the best investment practice was to sell up in May and enjoy the English summer season, the Lord’s test, Ascot…

With National Savings & Investments (NS&I) adjusting the premium bond prize-fund rate to just 1% in December of 2020, down from the previous 1.4%, around 21 million people saw their chances of winning fall. An impressive £99 billion worth of savings are currently held in NS&I premium bonds, and the…

I came across this exchange on Twitter recently: “The stock market is like someone playing with a yo-yo whilst riding the up escalator. The secret is to focus on the escalator and not the yo-yo!” “Of course, you need to know which escalator you’re on. Otherwise both are pointless.” Think…

The current coronavirus pandemic has wiped billions off global stock markets. In the world of investing, such markets where share prices experience prolonged price declines are known as bear markets. A bear market describes a situation in which stock markets fall 20% or more from recent highs amid widespread pessimism…

With billions being wiped off the stock market due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s hard for investors not to panic. Markets are exceptionally volatile, despite measures taken by central banks around the world, including the Bank of England, to try and reduce the impact of the outbreak. There are, however,…

Market timing is an investing tactic where investors transfer their money in and out of the market in an attempt to avoid losses before they occur and buy-in at the bottom after the market has fallen. It’s the well known strategy of ‘buy low and sell high’. It all sounds…

October wasn’t a great month for fund managers (the people who make the investment decisions that dictate how well your savings and investments perform). There have been two very high profile resignations—one as a result of a Sunday Times investigation, the other from a Panorama exposé. Unsurprisingly, clients have been…