Richard is a highly-respected investment writer well-known for his Share Sleuth portfolio, a model portfolio he runs for the investment platform Interactive investor. Richard eats his own cooking – buying good businesses at reasonable prices and holding them for the long-term in his Self Invested Personal Pension.
I’m a long-time ShareScope and SharePad fan and my aim is to help you find better companies faster using the fantastic tools at your disposal. My focus is on finding businesses we can reasonably expect to prosper for many years. As well as analysing data, I work out the strategies companies are following and try to verify that they are working in the real world by quizzing executives, visiting companies, trying their products and observing how they operate.
Softcat and Dotdigital are the only shares to pass Richard’s 5 Strikes filter. He explains why we shouldn’t worry about Softcat’s volatile turnover, but we should keep an eye on Dotdigital’s increasing capital employed. 5 Strikes Just three shares have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter since my last update. Name TIDM
Eagle Eye is an intriguing business with improving numbers that just fails to make the 5 Strikes cut. Richard also examines a trio of businesses that supply products for buildings. James Halstead, with only one strike, is not what he is looking for. 5 Strikes Since my last update, six companies have published annual reports
Richard considers two shares that pass his 5 Strikes screening process. The first, Dunelm (DNLM), has almost flawless numbers. The second, Wilmington (WIL), is intriguing because of the flaws in its numbers. Since I last updated you, seven shares have published annual reports and percolated through the minimum quality filter. Name TIDM Prev AR Strikes
Richard collects all the shares that have passed his 5 Strikes system so far this year, a total of 81 businesses with good financial track records. Six shares have made it past the minimum quality filter since I last updated you, but only two join the 79 shares that had already passed 5 strikes since
Richard is tempted by a growing business that employs 18 people and only earns £3m turnover. If it were up to him, all firms would disclose their chief executive to median employee pay ratio. Just one company has published an annual report and passed the minimum quality filter since my last update. To pass the
As directors go on holiday and annual reports dry up, only two companies make it through the 5 Strikes process. One is notable for how much it has grown, the other for how much it has shrunk. Richard takes a closer look at near-miss Cake Box’s annual report, published in August. The height of summer
Although Richard prefers to invest in businesses that should grow steadily over the long term, one company is showing it can generate long-term shareholder returns while hardly growing at all. Before I take a closer look at Colefax, a five-strikes update. 5 Strikes Since my last update, nine companies have published annual reports and passed
Games Workshop, Kainos and James Latham pass the 5 strikes test. Richard ponders the future of people-focused businesses in a world in which AI is doing more of the work. Three companies have passed my minimum quality filter and a cursory evaluation of their financial track records since my last update. Name TIDM Prev AR
Nine shares pass the minimum quality filter but five fail to make the grade. That leaves Polar Capital, XPS Pensions and MS International in the frame. Richard discovers how Mortgage Advice Bureau is setting out to disrupt its industry. Of the nine companies to publish annual reports and pass the minimum quality filter since my
Car marketplace Auto Trader and pork and poultry producer Cranswick pass 5 Strikes. Richard learns about animal welfare and finds a company is zigging when others are zagging. Since my last update, five companies have passed my minimum quality filter, the first stage of the 5 Strikes process. Two of them have achieved less than
Five companies pass the 5 strikes test. Richard takes a closer look at QinetiQ, the defence technology company underperforming in a booming market. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 10 companies have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter. On closer inspection of their long-term financial track-records, five achieved less than 3 strikes
Richard updates us on Pets at Home, the ubiquitous pet store is hiding a fast-growing vet practice and incubating a pet insurance business. He also takes a closer look at Eleco’s major shareholders, which unlocks the company’s storied history. 5 Strikes Pets at Home is the only company to publish its annual report since my