Pension stuff, how's it all looking ? HAve you prepared ?

[Mr. Dazzle]

I was gonna say NVIDA make up less than 1% of my portfolio, but then I realised that's not true

My directly owned NVIDIA shares make up less than 1% of my portfolio. But of course, all them non-specific pension funds (which most of you are in too I'd bet ) have a heavy exposure to NVIDA, Apple, Google, Meta etc.

I haven't lost any money BTW, I'm still up hundreds of percent. I haven't actually made any either TBF. I've neither lost nor made anything until I "take a position", as they say.

[Count Steer]

I was gonna say NVIDA make up less than 1% of my portfolio, but then I realised that's not true

My directly owned NVIDIA shares make up less than 1% of my portfolio. But of course, all them non-specific pension funds (which most of you are in too I'd bet ) have a heavy exposure to NVIDA, Apple, Google, Meta etc.

I haven't lost any money BTW, I'm still up hundreds of percent. I haven't actually made any either TBF. I've neither lost nor made anything until I "take a position", as they say.

You remember I said, if it was me, I'd be crystallising some profit on half those Nvidia shares......

Gypsy Rose Steer, that's moi.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Time to catch a falling knife ya reckon?

[JackyJoll]

Shit I spent Friday yelling “Buy! Buy!” down the phone.

Think I’ll take some time off to travel now.

[Horse]

I was gonna say NVIDA make up less than 1% of my portfolio, but ...

... They might have a few days ago?

[Mr. Dazzle]

I was gonna say NVIDA make up less than 1% of my portfolio, but ...

... They might have a few days ago?

I bought them in early 2021.

CS is right though, there will be a time when it make the most sense to sell 'em all. Who knows when that actually is though?It probably isn't the moment they start dropping. If that were the case, I should have already sold them a couple of times over, looking at that graph.

image_2025-01-28_115944779.png (54.4 KiB) Viewed 676 times

[Count Steer]

I was gonna say NVIDA make up less than 1% of my portfolio, but ...

... They might have a few days ago?

I bought them in early 2021.

CS is right though, there will be a time when it make the most sense to sell 'em all. Who knows when that actually is though?It probably isn't the moment they start dropping. If that were the case, I should have already sold them a couple of times over, looking at that graph.


image_2025-01-28_115944779.png

I'm old fashioned*. The time to sell is when you say 'Ooh, that's a nice profit I'll bank it or hmmm that's quite enough of a loss'. (Or when you have a better idea ).

TBH how much more upside do you think is left in Nvidia? Would you have bought them at today's prices?

* I don't understand modern markets, meme stocks, crypto etc. Oi loik fundamentals - current company valuations, particularly tech sector are mainly a tad bizarre. Having said that I only play for a bit of fun/keep my hand in now and have my share of disappointments in the past......remember egg anyone? Prime mover advantage in Internet banking yadda yadda yadda. Uh huh.

[Mr. Dazzle]

No I probably wouldn't have bought them today. I only bought them a few years ago 'cause I so some random articles about potential new tech investments. The other one I invested in at the same time was First Solar, an American panel manufacturer who were about to announce a bunch of new panel tech.

They're both up loads, but First Solar way more up and down than NVIDIA. In either case I was just betting on a new bit of tech/product they were rumoured to be launching.

I sold Tesla shares way too early

I all of these cases though it's not like I'm talking about enough to retire and buy a Ferrari. Or even to keep working and buy a Fiesta.

[Zimbo]

So, just asking those who know a lot more about these things than me, how do you choose investments within your SIPP? Are there some basic rules?
I tend to buy FTSE100 (and occasionally FTSE250 if I like the company) stocks with a P/E of less than 15, and preferably less than 10, with decent dividends (4 %+) and with historical dividend cover of over 1.5, and they mostly have done OK, but could I modify this strategy to improve the pick?

Also, treasury bonds / gilts, worth investing in within the SIPP? I'm assuming that the returns are known, but how does the value fluctuate the way it does? I bought some last year and they do seem to offer the expected return as a % of the investment, but the value of the bond "share" has fallen by around 3.5% and I don't understand what causes them to do so? Will they return to 100% when they mature?

Anso interesting, I have a small work pension invested with Nest. Whilst browsing their website the returns reported on their Sharia fund seemed to be much better than their "standard" fund, so I switched to the Sharia fund, and the value has been going up much more quickly than it did before I switched. Just found that interesting!

[Mr. Dazzle]

I used to look into things like P/E and the news but I wanted a more accurate method. So I switched to throwing a dart at a copy of the Financial Times.

[Zimbo]

Has that worked better for you?

[Yorick]

If financial advisors were any good, they'd all be rich and retired.

[JackyJoll]

If financial advisors were any good, they'd all be rich and retired.

A lot of them do make money and eventually retire.

[Count Steer]

I used to look into things like P/E and the news but I wanted a more accurate method. So I switched to throwing a dart at a copy of the Financial Times.

Looking at the numbers helps weed out anything (well most things) that might look, at first sight, better bets than they are. I used to, but, in the end used to go with a 'Are they in the right market, either steady or growing?Who is the competition? Would I want to work for them? Are they going to grow fast (see egg comment ) etc etc'. Can't say it put me in a position to compete with Warren Buffett but it stopped me being too impulsive.

Despite having had a biggish wedge in bonds (and cash funds) it was all in funds that the pension managers had automatically moved it into in a 'Lifestyle' thing that was designed to reduce risk as you approach retirement, so I know very little about them. Fortunately I didn't need to cash in/out when the original target date arrived and I've shifted it since. Still supposedly low risk but who knows at the moment?

Ooh....sharia funds? Didn't know they were available to independent investors.

[Horse]

Also, treasury bonds / gilts, worth investing in within the SIPP? I'm assuming that the returns are known, but how does the value fluctuate the way it does? I bought some last year and they do seem to offer the expected return as a % of the investment, but the value of the bond "share" has fallen by around 3.5% and I don't understand what causes them to do so? Will they return to 100% when they mature?

Had an annual statement for one pot. Dropped about £5k (roughly about 8%) over the year.

I'd been holding on making any decisions post-Truss for gilts to rise

[JackyJoll]

So, just asking those who know a lot more about these things than me, how do you choose investments within your SIPP? Are there some basic rules?
I tend to buy FTSE100 (and occasionally FTSE250 if I like the company) stocks with a P/E of less than 15, and preferably less than 10, with decent dividends (4 %+) and with historical dividend cover of over 1.5, and they mostly have done OK, but could I modify this strategy to improve the pick?

Also, treasury bonds / gilts, worth investing in within the SIPP? I'm assuming that the returns are known, but how does the value fluctuate the way it does? I bought some last year and they do seem to offer the expected return as a % of the investment, but the value of the bond "share" has fallen by around 3.5% and I don't understand what causes them to do so? Will they return to 100% when they mature?

Anso interesting, I have a small work pension invested with Nest. Whilst browsing their website the returns reported on their Sharia fund seemed to be much better than their "standard" fund, so I switched to the Sharia fund, and the value has been going up much more quickly than it did before I switched. Just found that interesting!

I think the holder gets the original value plus the original interest rate. People buy them during the period and that price rises if current new bonds have lower interest rates.

Truss caused (gilt) bond rates to rise, which collapsed the value of previously issued bonds.

Something like that anyway!

[Mr. Dazzle]

Yeah the holder gets the original value and is paid interest for the whole time they hold it.

There's no guarantee the organisation who originally issued the bond will still be in existence when it's time to claim that original value though. That's why credit ratings exist - they essentially say how likely it is the bond will actually pay out at the end. That's where "junk bonds" come in; bonds where it's highly likely the person who originally issued it - the person who borrowed the money - won't be able to pay up.

They go up and down for pretty much the same reason any other financial thing goes up and down; Because people think it's more/less likely they'll get a better return on their money elsewhere

[Taipan]

Knowing what stock to buy, is as important as knowing when to sell it! Or vice versa, I can never remember!

[Count Steer]

Knowing what stock to buy, is as important as knowing when to sell it! Or vice versa, I can never remember!

Both!

Someone I know quite well did some consultancy work for a construction/engineering company - AMEC - they liked what they saw and suggested the shares would be a good punt. So I bought some. They did very well for quite a while (they had a boss that seemed to be a bit of a whizz).

I took my eye off the ball and they went down faster than they went up. Eventually they merged with FosterWheeler and now they're just part of Wood Group.

So, I knew what and when to buy, just forgot to keep reading the runes and sell 'em.

[Count Steer]

If financial advisors were any good, they'd all be rich and retired.

A lot of them do make money and eventually retire.

Yeah, generally they aren't their to turn your 4d into £1M, just help you make the most of what you actually have.

I'm sure quite a few of them retire 'comfortably' without taking big risks with their income.