alaric

I am running my own pension fund investments and would welcome the opportunity to meet with other interested parties to exchange views on the various markets and share investment ideas.

We could perhaps make a start through this site and then, if there is enough interest, follow through with a monthly meeting in Ayamonte/Esuri where we could present our research and discuss individual investment opportunties in more detail.

You would not have to be an expert, just interested in the world of investing and prepared to do some homework on individual companies and share it with the group. It would also not be necessary to form an offical club so there would be no continuing commitment but the more participants and ideas the better!

Look forward to hearing from you Warren..

Kind regards,

Alaric

alaric

The reason I am interested in sharing investment ideas with other potential investors is that I believe that we are now in a new bull market with the prospects of a five year cyclical run ahead of us in which to make real returns on our pension funds and savings if we do our homework and act upon our considered views and feelings rather than rely on others who have so often failed us and charged us hansomely for the pleasure!

I have been in and out of the stock market both in a professional capacity and as an individual for over 40 years and have, 9 times out of 10, got the timing right. My problem up to now has been that I have been too early in and too quick to take a profit.

As one Pools winner once replied, when asked what he had done with the money, "I spent half of it on women and drink and just wasted the rest!" Well I am probably too old now to spend it on slow horses and fast women but not too old, I hope, to learn a bit of patience and to run my winners and cut my loosers this time round. I have got off to a reasonable start this year and will be happy to share my portfolio list with you but there are just not enough hours in the day for one person to research Mongolian commodity companies, Brakken oil producers, Irish Sea, Greenland and Africa oil explorers or the nano-technology industry, including solar energy nano-crystal energy generators, let alone keep track of them all. So I need some help with the research and in return will be happy to teach you what I have learnt over the years and together we can perhaps build those nest-eggs into something that could keep you in the style you aspire to and maybe leave the next generations some help and comfort as well.

I suspect many of you have been in business in one way or another before retiring and that personal knowledge of an industry or sector can provide invaluable insights into what to invest in and what not to invest in today. So before those little grey cells pack up lets share that lifetime of experience and put it to work! Today the internet provides access to loads of free research and company reports so there is no excuse for us not to succeed.

As you would expect, I can´t wait to get started so let´s hear from you if you are willing to give it a go. It can be really fun and rewarding and may only cost you a small part of your profits to buy a round of drinks once in a while.

fionamw

I rarely dip into Ayamonte, but did on this occasion because my OH share-watches sometimes for hours a day and I've lost count of the number of times he's made a call his broker wouldn't have and got it right. However. You've not had a flood of replies and I'm wondering if folk think there's some catch? Not saying there is, I add hastily, just wondering why no-one's replied! Oh, and ps not everyone in Spain is retired

alaric

Dear Fiona,

How good to hear from you and that you are amongst the working population.

Yes it may be that people suspect some kind of catch but although I am in the process of getting back into the broking business, I can confirm that there is not one. In fact, I should be in a much better position to help with research and ideas as a result.

It could be that there is not much interest and sometimes people are reluctant or lacking in the confidence to take a hands on stance with their investments but then nobody should rush into things when it comes to money and there is no hurry, provided I am right about our being in the early stages of a 5 year cycle!

Do you think your OH would be interested as even if there are only two of us it would be a start?

Hope to hear from you soon and thanks again for getting in touch.

Kind regards,

Alaric

alaric

I should add ( and I am consious of not wanting to breach the site rules here ) that I would not be advising on or managing client investments in my intended new role so there would be no conflict of interest. As a past fellow of the Institute of Securities and under LSE and FSA rules I am also fully conversant with protecting investors interests. Although I only officially retired from Barclays Weath Uk last year, I was obliged to stop work some years ago due to severe arthritis and related health problems but after getting a second replacement set of hips fitted last year I have regained some mobility and am needing to get back into the fray to keep the brain going and the home fires burning. I could not, however, return to the 80 hour week and need to be flexible because of continued health problems. I have participated in investment clubs and charity funds in the past and am more than happy to give what time and knowledge I have to help others benefit as well. I first trained as an investment analyst with J&A Scrimgeour in the 1970's and was the collective funds research director for Greig Middleton in the 1990´s so I have some skills to put to use and will be happy to send any interested parties a copy of my cv and references, if required.

Large broking houses spend large sums of money on research and IT but their very size often restricts their advice to large blue chip companies (FTSE100) which is not where the private investor makes serious returns. Small brokers can often distort the market with their recommendations for smaller companies, leaving the private investor vulnerable to getting sucked in at the wrong price. Tipsters in the press and newsletters were guilty of front-running ( buying the shares first and then promoting them to others, buying them usually on a Friday before puting them in the Sunday papers and selling them on the Monday without having to pay a penny!) and although that is officially illegal today versions of the scam still appear from time to time.

Thus the private investor has much work to do to uncover those investment gems whilst avoiding all the market traps but as I said before it can be interesting and rewarding work and I look forward to building a group that can achieve those benefits.

Sorry to ramble on but establising a skilled and motivated forum could be a real and lasting benefit to all concerned so please respond if you are interested and I will, as I say, be happy to answer any questions and bore you with my career history.

As a visitor to Wall Street once remarked when being shown round the brokers lavish yacht, "but where are all the client´s yachts?"

Well, I ususally went sailing on my client´s yachts ( not because I am mean but becasue they were bigger than mine) so whilst I achieved a reasonable degree of success my clients were invariably better off and that´s the way it should be.

look forward to hearing from you and thanks for listening(reading).

Kind regards,

Alaric


How good to hear from you and that you are amongst the working population.

Yes it may be that people suspect some kind of catch but although I am in the process of getting back into the broking business, I can confirm that there is not one. In fact, I should be in a much better position to help with research and ideas as a result.

It could be that there is not much interest and sometimes people are reluctant or lacking in the confidence to take a hands on stance with their investments but then nobody should rush into things when it comes to money and there is no hurry, provided I am right about our being in the early stages of a 5 year cycle!

Do you think your OH would be interested as even if there are only two of us it would be a start?

Hope to hear from you soon and thanks again for getting in touch.

Kind regards,

Alaric[/QUOTE]

alaric

As of next month I will be returning to work and contrary to my earlier advice it appears that there could be some conflict of interest in my continuing to promote an investment forum. I therefore have to withdraw my original proposal but will still be very happy to help anyone wishing to develop an investment club in the future.

Jon-Bxl

Hmmm thats a shame, as long as you werent advertising/selling any services (and you made that clear) - I think for those interested in an investment forum/discussion, this would have been really useful. And you also have a lot of valid experience to bring to the table.

Thanks for trying Alaric

Jon

alaric

Dear Jon,

Many thanks for your kind remarks and you never know if something may come of it perhaps when people have a little more confidence in the stock market, usually just 10 minutes before it collapses again!

Wiht kind regards,

Aalric

kevin0410

Hi Alaric,

I would also like to join this club as well. I am currently involved in investments in Brazil and with land there, you can gain a minimum of 20% per year and the way the country is going, this could yield 100% in 3-5 years. Brazil is booming, the economy is at 5% a year growth and everyone is looking to invest in Brazil at present. I have some interesting possibilities if you or anyone is interested. Stockmarkets are very risky and in terms of great investments at the moment, will not pay anywhere near the returns from investing in land or property there. Brazil is the number one destination in the world at present for investments and has now overtaken the UK and is now number 6 and is expected to be the 5th largest economy in the world by the end of 2012 and with the world cup in 20124 and Olympic Games in 2016, whoever has property or land as investments will yield extremely large returns.

Jon-Bxl

Hi Kevin

If you read the thread you'll see that it was effectively stopped - so there is no discussion 'club' to join. (Since April)

As this is your first post, you need to be careful of being seen as 'touting business' on the forum.

Are you somehow an agent or someone with a financial or commercial interest in finding clients to perhaps consider investing in Brazil property?

Just a warning (well meant) as I liked the idea of a financial/investment discussion all along, as above.

I often recommend businesses on the forum where I have received good service - but always take care to mention that I have no commercial interest in them.

Thanks + good luck in Brazil.
Jon