Interactive Investor

Is simply copying model portfolios a sensible tactic for DIY investors?

19th November 2018 10:47

Richard Beddard from interactive investor

interactive investor's Richard Beddard, also a columnist at our sister site Money Observer, responds to a question from an investor curious about his Share Sleuth portfolio and other model portfolios.

Eye on the Sleuth

I write to ask how I could track the performance of your Share Sleuth portfolio over each of the past three calendar years – 2016, 2017 and 2018 (to date).

The reason I am interested in this is because I am a member of a small investor group of eight people who meet monthly. Each member of the group runs a 'virtual portfolio' to learn about investments. I would like to follow your Share Sleuth portfolio for the next 15 months and report its performance to our group.

This came about at our last meeting, when I remarked to the group that there are model portfolios offered by Money Observer, including the Share Sleuth portfolio. Would it not be sensible for amateur investors to simply 'copy' such model portfolios for our real investments, instead of picking our own stocks?

Malcolm Tyrrell, Leatherhead.
 Richard Beddard replies: Three years is a very short time to measure the performance of an investment portfolio. The official objective of the Share Sleuth portfolio is to beat the index over any five-year period, but I really think in terms of a 10-year horizon.

If the portfolio performed poorly over a three-year period, I wouldn't think I was doing anything wrong. 

I won't comment on copying fund portfolios, as it is not my manor, but there are a number of pitfalls when copying share portfolios.

You might, for example, buy a share I am about to sell. Your faith in the investor you are copying needs to be unshakeable (and justified), because he or she will perform poorly from time to time, so I can't advise you to copy me or anyone else.

My goal as a writer is more modest: to help people learn enough about company analysis to put their confidence in companies and to introduce them to companies that might make good long-term investments.

You can follow my Share Sleuth trades even though I can only recommend you do so as a learning experience.

I report them all through the Share Sleuth column in Money Observer, although due to the time it takes to produce, print and dispatch a magazine, you are not receiving the information in real time.

I report them more punctually on Twitter. If you join Twitter or you are already a member, you can follow me here, although since I trade infrequently you will have to be patient, as most of my tweets are links to articles I have written or find interesting. You could also track the companies I favour in Money Observer's Share Watch column – it's on page 75 in November's issue.

Additionally, I don't know if you have come across my Decision Engine articles on interactive investor? The Decision Engine ranks the companies I follow for investment. One thing you could do is set up a model portfolio of, say, the 10 most highly ranked shares and track the performance of that. 

Just don't expect such a model portfolio to perform well over the next 15 months – it would be nice, but it is not guaranteed.

Other model portfolio content:

These articles are provided for information purposes only.  Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties.  The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.

Disclosure

We use a combination of fundamental and technical analysis in forming our view as to the valuation and prospects of an investment. Where relevant we have set out those particular matters we think are important in the above article, but further detail can be found here.

Please note that our article on this investment should not be considered to be a regular publication.

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This article was originally published in our sister magazine Money Observer, which ceased publication in August 2020.

These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.