Anyone who holds a portfolio and has questions can contact either myself and or Nik. Many have. Discussions around suitability are very individual specific due to goals, age, risk appetite and time to retirement/time to draw down.

Hi Ollie, I don't follow 'Defence' stocks generally as they rely on wars being waged. My area is growth/tech which has outperformed defence over any meaningful time frame. If you want to seek out defence funds there are a couple of global ETFs you can google.

@n5tew Good morning, to answer your questions, yes there are a handful of lenders that still offer offset mortgages, though they’re relatively niche now. With these, you only pay interest on your mortgage minus what’s in a linked savings account, which can significantly reduce your interest costs if you hold a large savings balance. There are indeed fixed rate products although they will tend to be notably higher than your conventional fixed rate products. If you would like to discuss this in further detail, please let me know, my email is michael.searle@cobens.co.uk, or we can arrange a meeting to dive into specifics.

@SiriAlexaAl Yep, that's what's happened.

@mikeiow I'm in a similar boat. Too much time on my hands and with a few pennies to spend at the bookies (I mean stock market). I used a spredsheet to come up with the chart, but couldn't produce anything other than dots on a scatter chart. There were no labels next to each dot, other than their value. I, also, couldn't produce the curves on the same chart. @Adam-Kay thanks for the steer. I'll do some googling at SD and beta.

Hi R, Yes it's a display gremlin. Ive notified admin to fix it. Ive looked at the Switch and that has been processed. Being two legs to the transaction , one out and one in the DB shows one but not the other. Regards Adam

Ok thanks.

Hi Siri It would be the 25/26 year now, if the birth is really close to tax year end just drop me a mail and I'll get the contribution set up. Cheers Nik

It's a bit more nuanced than that, G. And glad you did something nice with your gains, that's what it's all about, benefiting through investment. People will always take profit into new highs, we've discussed the psychology What are 'expectations'? You could say even higher than what was delivered so is it the first point or the second? For example MSFT X, I posted those numbers(official market expectations) and they comfortably beat, all the reporting entities did. However different reactions. You might also have noticed after hours RED/GREEN/RED(same company) and then at the open big Green. Derivatives in play again. You will often hear the cliche 'it's priced in'. I'm not a fan of the catchphrase. It's largely nonsense. The PH resident IFA will say 'you don't have an edge against the pro' just word-salad. You don't need an edge, just don't chase meme stocks, chase quality and have some patience. That is why we simply stay the course. A drop yesterday and looks like(given 300+ futures) gains today.

Adam, Nik You both have urgent emails on this

ExIM, No problem, no intention of engaging but im not about to let intentional misinformation go unchecked.

Today Alphabet announced its quantum-computing team delivered a verifiable quantum advantage via its “Willow” chip and “Quantum Echoes” algorithm running ~13,000× faster than a classical supercomputer. This isn’t just hype — the hardware, software stack and experimental validation all align. On top of that, Alphabet remains one of the most profitable companies in the world: it reported a net income in excess of US$100 billion in its latest full year. In the battleground of mega-cap tech, alphabets like Nvidia Corporation, Microsoft Corporation and Apple Inc. grab the headlines — but Alphabet quietly leads in profit, while trading at a discount to them. Why that matters: It shows Alphabet is not just a search and ads company — it’s positioning for the next frontier of computing (quantum, AI infrastructure, cloud). It gives it a solid financial base: when profit margins are strong and cash flows healthy, you have the flexibility to experiment and pivot. OTHER BETS It may mean the market is under-estimating Alphabet’s upside: if these emerging bets pay off, the valuation gap could shrink. Yes, hurdles remain (commercialising quantum, cloud dominance, regulatory headwinds), but dismissing Alphabet now would overlook its smart strategy and deep pockets.

Thanks Mike. Hi Eldar, The Money Markets portfolio is a very low-risk investment designed to act much like cash. It invests mainly in short-dated, high-quality instruments such as Treasury bills, certificates of deposit and commercial paper, aiming to preserve capital and provide a steady return. The fund closely tracks short-term interest rates, so its yield moves in line with the Bank of England base rate. The price is usually very stable, and you can normally access your money within 3 working days via your investment platform. It’s often used as a cash-like holding for short-term funds or by investors waiting to reinvest. It offers a competitive yield compared with many savings accounts(net 3.7% after fees), currently. In practice, it behaves much like cash, but sits within an investment account rather than a bank.

Cheers Adam What a strange thing, exactly the same rounded up or down to the nearest quid

I thought it would be that, but it was worth asking, just in case. Many Thanks

Ah, cool, that is very helpful thanks! Certainly gives her some additional options - clearly she is 'used to' Aviva, but I am explaining how Aviva seem to be a bit stale in their options! I will sort a call with you in a week or two. Cheers