The pandemic saw thousands take their first baby steps into the world of investing, including Manav, 20 years old at the time. With many salaries protected by employers and the government, and precious few ways to spend money, putting savings to work in investment markets for the long term made sense during the healthcare crisis.

Manav, now an accountant and currently studying for his ACCA exams, was first introduced to the idea of investing by his dad about a year before the Covid outbreak. He admits that he ‘hadn’t a clue’ about investing at the time so had to start from scratch, looking first at which platform might be best for him.

His learning curve steepened by reading about how more experienced investors began their own investment journeys and getting to grips with some of the basics of stocks and funds.

LOCKDOWN LEARNER

This was during the initial lockdown when he, like many of us, was unusually both time and cash rich. ‘Shortly after, I opened an account with Trading 212, buying relatively small stakes in a handful of individual shares,’ he says. But Manav quickly realised that he was looking to build a portfolio for the long-term and that he should take advantage of the tax-free benefits of an investment ISA, which would give him tax-free capital gains on an allowance of up to £20,000 per year. Manav chose the AJ Bell platform for his ISA.

‘Now 23 years old, I am definitely a very adventurous investor,’ he says. Manav looks to maximise growth. This is a sensible attitude given his time horizon and should allow him plenty of opportunity to compound growth, and perhaps some income, over the years. That should comfortably offset periods of stock market downturns, like the one over the last 12 months.

Investment ideas come from multiple sources, but he finds access to Shares particularly helpful, often finding potential investments that he will then go and research further on his own.

When it comes to individual stocks, ‘one of the key things I do is analyse their financial statements and performance ratios to see how well, or poorly, the company is doing,’ he says. But he understands that the market is forward-looking, so will assess analyst forecasts to get a feel for a company’s future growth potential and how sustainable that growth might be.

Website resources he frequently uses include The Motley Fool, The Financial Times and Simply Wall Street. He has found reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Intelligent Investor books very helpful, written respectively by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter, and Benjamin Graham.

SMALL BUT WELL SPREAD

Manav’s portfolio is fairly concentrated at present, as you might expect from someone so early in their investment journey, but it already shows promising signs of sensible diversification, and he makes a point of saying that he thinks ‘it is important to not keep all of your eggs in one basket’.

The likes of Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) and Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) play to his long-term growth ambition, while both Segro (SGRO) and Persimmon (PSN) bolster his portfolio, which includes a rental property, with exposure to the real estate market and offers useful income from dividends that are reinvested.

‘My current equities portfolio performance is down very slightly but I am not worried in the slightest,’ Manav says, with a clear long-term objective and high conviction to the investments he holds.

Barring perhaps, Persimmon. Manav calls his investment in the UK housebuilder a ‘bad decision’ given that his stake is down roughly 60% since purchase, but this seems a little harsh – the rapid rise in interest rates over the past 12 months caught out many investors, even experienced ones.

Given that it was bought largely for long-run dividend income, his plan to stick with it for the foreseeable future and reinvest that income has some merit. You don’t lose money on falling stocks if you don’t sell as they could bounce back in time.

There is further broad exposure from a handful of funds, including Terry Smith’s popular Fundsmith Equity (B41YBW7), the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VUAG) and 3i (III), the private equity investor, making regular payments into the first two.

KEEPING IT FUN AND LIVELY

Manav also still likes to trade a little and has maintained his Trading 212 commission-free account to do that for a bit of fun, what he calls his ‘play’ investments. He has also considered dipping a toe into the crypto space, although the wild volatility of digital currencies in recent months makes him reluctant just now.

Manav’s longer-term investment strategy is to keep regularly allocating resources into the stock market, with expansion of his exposure to the property space also part of his plans. ‘The goal is to reach a seven-figure shares and funds’ portfolio one day and retire comfortably while I’m still relatively young,’ Manav says. ‘Investing early and regularly plus compounding equals a recipe for success,’ he adds.

DISCLAIMER: Please note, we do not provide financial advice in case study articles, and we are unable to comment on the suitability of the subject’s investments. Individuals who are unsure about the suitability of investments should consult a suitably qualified financial adviser. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and some investments need to be held for the long term. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and rules may change. ISA and pension rules apply. Financial services company AJ Bell referenced in the article owns Shares magazine. The author of the article (Steven Frazer) and the editor of the article (Tom Sieber) own shares in AJ Bell. Steven Frazer also invest in Fundsmith Equity.

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