We found it decidedly tough going over 2014 as we struggled to steer our four investment portfolios to yet another year of above-average stock market growth.
In the event we managed it with some room to spare, with an average gain of 7.5% compared with losses of about 3% in the value of companies in the FTSE 100 share index. That is the 12th consecutive year in which our tips have beaten the Footsie, which fund managers use as a benchmark to track their performances.
But we were hugely disappointed with our latest 2014 selections, which only just managed to break even over the festive period.
And our 2011 portfolio missed its double-your-money target when it was wound up on Christmas Eve with a gain of "only" 88% despite adding some £1286 over the year.
We invest a notional £1000 in each of six shares every January and then manage this new portfolio on a weekly basis over a four-year period with the aim of doubling its value before it is liquidated.
Last year was only the fourth occasion on which we have missed this ambitious 100% growth target since we launched the portfolio service back in 2003.
Like other investors, we were wrong-footed at the start of 2014 when all the signs pointed to a bumper year on the stock market. Fortunately, we managed to avoid direct investment in the oil producers when we launched our new 2014 portfolio, although four of the six new shares were involved in the energy sector. They were: alternative energy supplier Infinis; Smart Metering Systems; energy-efficient lighting group Dialight; and pumps manufacturer IMI.
The other selections were household goods retailer Dunelm and Scottish cloud computing specialist, Iomart. All failed to last the course and were sold under our stop-loss system, where we eject any share which has fallen 10% from previous peaks.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article