• 16 December 2025

    What is the Shiller PE and can it reveal if we’re in a bubble?

    Ask the experts. Russ Mould is on hand to answer your queries about the financial markets. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.

    What is the Shiller PE and can it reveal if we’re in a bubble?

    There is a lot of noise in the current market about Shiller PE ratio and markets. If you can please explain this I would...

    6 min read
    Shares magazine
    Floating bubbles
  • 15 December 2025

    The best way to get the UK investing is education not Cash ISA cuts

    The decision by the chancellor to cut the Cash ISA allowance for under-65s to £12,000 appears to have been driven, at least in part, by an aspiration to get the UK investing on a much larger scale.

    AJ Bell is on record that the ISA needs to be simplified, rather than made more complex as will be the case as a result of this change. Elsewhere in the...

    3 min read
    Shares magazine
    person writing in an exam
  • 15 December 2025

    Portfolio MOT: how to keep your investments ticking over

    The one constant everyone can rely on in life and investing is change. Keeping on top of shifts in your portfolio is crucial if you want to remain positioned to reach your long-term goals.

    Before considering your investments, it is probably worth taking stock of your personal situation to consider any material changes. Things like getting married...

    9 min read
    Shares magazine
    car being worked on in a professional garage
  • 15 December 2025

    Festive trading: what to expect from Next, Tesco and more

    December is a key trading period for UK retailers which can make or break the year. With the Budget not as damaging as some may have feared, companies are now in a position focus on the festive season.

    Next is seen as a barometer for the UK retail sector due to its wide range of products and broad customer base.

    Traditionally it is also the first...

    3 min read
    Shares magazine
    Seasonal image of the month ahead
  • 13 December 2025

    What will happen to my pension if I move abroad?

    Ask the experts. Rachel Vahey is here to answer questions on pensions. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.

    Three years ago, we bought property in Spain, and since our retirement last year, my husband and I are currently dividing our time between the UK and Spain. However, this is a temporary arrangement, and...

    4 min read
    Shares magazine
    Tourist couple
  • 12 December 2025

    Different ways investments generate income for you

    Income investors seeking true diversification should consider more than just whether a fund invests in shares, bonds or other asset classes when making choices for a pension or ISA.

    It’s important to look at how a fund generates an income stream for investors, as it isn’t always as straightforward as passing on dividends from investments inside its...

    6 min read
    Shares magazine
    stack of coins
  • 12 December 2025

    Why bonds matter to all investors

    When people talk about investing, shares usually steal the spotlight. But behind the scenes, there’s a much bigger player quietly shaping everything from mortgage rates to pension deficits to taxes. That’s the bond market. Worth around £150 trillion globally, bonds form the bedrock of the world’s financial system. So what exactly are they, and why...

    5 min read
    Shares magazine
    Wall Street
  • 12 December 2025

    Can Indian stocks start firing again after pause for breath?

    Despite AI fears, geopolitical conflict, and ever-changing tariff policies, markets have (for the most part) ticked along reasonably well this year.

    Even after April’s dip, the S&P 500 has recovered, and the FTSE 100 has enjoyed a much more positive year than it has in some time. But one of the world’s top markets over the past decade, India, has...

    5 min read
    Shares magazine
    illustration of indian landmarks
  • 11 December 2025

    Revealed: a great way to find stocks at a discount

    In this article we’re on the hunt for shares which are trading at valuations which are significantly lower than they have historically traded on.

    To do this we have screened for companies trading at a discount to their average 10-year forward PE or price to earnings ratio.

    The forward PE ratio is a stock valuation measure that uses a company’s...

    6 min read
    Shares magazine
    Man at laptop
  • 11 December 2025

    The how and why of investing in the pharmaceutical sector

    Could investing in pharmaceutical companies get your portfolio in better shape? The pharma sector is, at the very least, difficult to ignore given it represents around a fifth of the MSCI World index. It has also outperformed this global benchmark index over the last 30 years.

    In the last three and five years though, pharma stocks have...

    14 min read
    Shares magazine
    Question mark image of pharmaceutical pills
  • 11 December 2025

    Nvidia vs Google: what next as AI race hots up?

    No investor, whether they want to or not, can really afford to ignore microchip giant Nvidia. While it may have shrunk a little of late, the world’s largest company remains so big that, as of 31 October 2025, it accounted for around 6% of the global MSCI World index all on its own.

    This means nearly anyone with broad global exposure to the markets...

    8 min read
    Shares magazine
    google and nvidia chips
  • 11 December 2025

    What should I do with my first bonus: treat myself, save it or invest it?

    Ask the experts. Laura Suter is on hand to answer your personal finance questions. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition send it in now.

    I’ve just received my first-ever work bonus, and I’m not sure what to do with it. Part of me wants to celebrate and splurge on something I’ve wanted for ages, but I also feel like I should be...

    5 min read
    Shares magazine
    person using tablet in an office
  • 10 December 2025

    How do I find funds which go against the herd?

    Ask the experts. Paul Angell is on hand to answer your questions about investments. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now .

    I’m worried about holding too many of the same sorts of companies in my portfolio. I want to find some funds that invest a bit differently, but they are difficult to identify. How do I pick...

    6 min read
    Shares magazine
    Herd of buffalo running through a field
  • 10 December 2025

    Approaching or in retirement; here’s your Budget breakdown

    Rachel Reeves has now delivered her second Budget, but as I’m writing this column, most of the headlines seem more concerned with the lead up to the speech – government leaks and the future of the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) – rather than the smorgasbord of policies announced.

    So, what changed for people who are approaching or already in...

    5 min read
    Shares magazine
    Outside 11 Downing Street
  • 12 November 2025

    Discover the key players behind the AI revolution

    The world changed forever in November 2022 when private company OpenAI released ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot. This ‘large language model’ is a type of machine learning which can understand and generate natural language and images.

    This means LLMs can generate human-like text, write code, create content and solve puzzles...

    12 min read
    Shares magazine
    AI image of a brain
  • 12 November 2025

    Decoding the conflicting investment advice of Warren E. Buffett

    Warren Buffett stands ready to exit stage left from one of the most glittering careers in business history. Over six decades he has turned Berkshire Hathaway from a struggling textiles business into a trillion-dollar company, now often standing alone among the big technology stocks at the top of the S&P 500.

    At the end of this year, Warren Buffett...

    6 min read
    Shares magazine
    warren buffett illustration
  • 12 November 2025

    Two new members of the $4 trillion club

    The $4 trillion club had two new entries at the end of October 2025 as Microsoft and Apple joined Nvidia in reaching the milestone. Apple was the first company to hit a $1 trillion valuation in August 2018, nearly 500 years after the first formal stock market began trading in Amsterdam in 1602. It took less than seven years for Nvidia to reach a...

    2 min read
    microsoft apple and nvidia buildings
  • 12 November 2025

    How can I tell if I’m financially ‘on track’ for my age? 

    Ask the experts. Laura Suter is on hand to answer your personal finance questions. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition send it in now.

    I’m in my late 30s, earning what I’d call a decent salary, but I never really know if I’m doing well enough with my money. I save a bit each month, pay into my pension through work, and try not...

    7 min read
    Shares magazine
    Group gathering
  • 12 November 2025

    Retirement planning: reasons to keep calm and carry on

    I’m excited to be a part of the new monthly Shares magazine team. Each month, I’ll look at what readers in the run up to retirement, and those already enjoying it should consider, with some planning pointers along the way.

    To say the last few years in pensions have seen plenty of changes is an understatement. The lifetime allowance has been...

    5 min read
    Shares magazine
    group of senior people smiling outside on a walk
  • 12 November 2025

    Could Abenomics repeat itself under Takaichi?

    Ask the experts. Russ Mould is on hand to answer your queries about the financial markets. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.

    I notice Japanese stocks have been trading at record levels recently. What does the new prime minister Sanae Takaichi mean for the markets and will there be a repeat of Abenomics which...

    5 min read
    Shares magazine
    tokyo stock exchange
  • 12 November 2025

    Will I be affected by the increased age limit on taking pension benefits?

    Ask the experts. Rachel Vahey is here to answer questions on pensions. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.

    Currently the earliest one can access their pension benefits is upon reaching the age of 55. The government announced this limit would rise to 57 from 6 April 2028.

    Having saved diligently and invested...

    4 min read
    Shares magazine
    green question marks
  • 12 November 2025

    Where do I start with constructing a well-rounded portfolio?

    For most people, putting together a diversified portfolio of investments is their best route to achieving their financial goals. A well-constructed portfolio can smooth investment returns, making it easier to stay invested over the longer term.

    The first part of the article discusses spreading risk in relation to broad asset types while the second...

    11 min read
    Shares magazine
    Group of people
  • 12 November 2025

    The pros and cons of income-focused ETFs

    While global equity tracker funds such as ETFs are firm favourites among everyday investors due to their simplicity and low costs, passive income products are less common in the average portfolio. That might change as more investors discover the options available.

    Historically, investors gravitated towards actively managed funds in the search for...

    7 min read
    Shares magazine
    Verizon store