Wild's Winter Portfolios
Will they generate a profit from November to April?
Important information: As investment values can go down as well as up, you may not get back all of the money you invest. If you're unsure about investing, please speak to an authorised financial adviser.
In 2014, we built two winter portfolios to exploit a seasonal stock market anomaly. Despite a mixed performance since Covid, the data-driven portfolios have still risen in nine of the past 12 winters, including winter 2025.
The new portfolios for 2026, which run from 1 November to 30 April, each include three big winners from last year and two new stocks boasting an impressive history of winter gains. We'll be tracking the performance of the consistent portfolio, and aggressive basket of shares for 2026-27 to see if they can do it again.
How the Winter Portfolios work
The winter portfolio strategy is very simple and makes all the hard decisions for you. It tells you when to buy and even when to sell. Find out more.
Why winter?
A typical investing rule of thumb is that it’s better to keep your money invested and ride out dips in the market over time.
In this video, Lee Wild explains the reasons why some shares buck this trend by consistently performing better in the winter months, from 1 November to 30 April.
Wild's Consistent Winter Portfolio 2026-27
| Company | Activity | Track record (years) | Positive returns (years) | Average returns (%) |
| Games Workshop Group (LSE:GAW) | Fantasy wargames | 10 | 9 | 23.7 |
| Computacenter (LSE:CCC) | IT services | 10 | 9 | 14.2 |
| Standard Chartered (LSE:STAN) | Bank | 10 | 9 | 11.7 |
| Halma (LSE:HLMA) | Safety products conglomerate | 10 | 9 | 10.8 |
| Admiral Group (LSE:ADM) | Insurance provider | 10 | 9 | 9.1 |
| FTSE 350 index | 5.10 |
Source: Stephen Eckett, ShareScope. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Wild's Aggressive Winter Portfolio 2026-27
| Company | Activity | Track record (years) | Positive returns (years) | Average returns (%) |
| Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO) | Copper miner | 10 | 8 | 26.6 |
| Games Workshop Group (LSE:GAW) | Fantasy wargames | 10 | 9 | 23.7 |
| Keller Group (LSE:KLR) | Engineering contractor | 10 | 8 | 20.5 |
| BAE Systems (LSE:BA.) | Defence | 10 | 8 | 15.5 |
| Computacenter (LSE:CCC) | IT services | 10 | 9 | 14.2 |
| FTSE 350 index | 5.10 |
Source: Stephen Eckett, ShareScope. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
What will it cost to buy and sell the Winter Portfolios?
You will have to buy and sell each constituent individually, ideally buying on 1 November 2026 and selling on 30 April 2027. We charge a one-off trading fee when you buy and sell shares. A 0.5% UK stamp duty also applies when you buy shares.
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Knowing the Risks
Past performance of the underlying constituents is not a guarantee of future performance. The value of investments, and any income from them, can fall as well as rise so you could get back less than you invest. These portfolios are designed for a short trading period, so market fluctuations may be more pronounced. If you buy the portfolio the holdings will not be automatically sold on 30 April.
ii publishes information and ideas which are of interest to investors. Any recommendation made here does not take into account your circumstances. This is not a personal recommendation. If you are in any doubt as to the action you should take, please consult an authorised investment adviser. ii do not, under any circumstances, accept liability for losses suffered by readers as a result of their investment decisions.
These portfolios consist of a very limited number of underlying securities. Any portfolio with fewer than 30 constituents is considered ‘highly concentrated’ and subject to a high level of concentration risk. Concentration risk is when there is an insufficient level of diversification which means an investor is excessively exposed to one or a limited number of investments. These portfolios should not therefore be used for all or the majority of an investor’s assets but should be seen as a research or potential trading idea for a part of an otherwise broadly diversified portfolio.
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.
Details of all recommendations issued by ii during the previous 12-month period can be found here.
ii adheres to a strict code of conduct. Members of ii staff may hold shares in companies included in these portfolios, which could create a conflict of interests. Any member of staff intending to write about any financial instruments in which they have an interest are required to disclose such interest to ii and in the article itself. We will at all times consider whether such interest impairs the objectivity of the recommendation.
In addition, staff involved in the production of investment articles are subject to a personal account dealing restriction, which prevents them from placing a transaction in the specified instrument(s) for a period before and for five working days after such publication. This is to avoid personal interests conflicting with the interests of the recipients of those investment articles.