Portfolio structure and dark times ahead

Episode notes

This week’s episode is slightly shorter than usual because Allan has been on holiday. Fortunately, it still contains a resource, article, and podcast recommendation that are well worth your time.

Allan’s update

Holidays are a time for switching off and leaving the daily grind behind. But can you ever really switch off from your portfolio? And would you want to?

Resource of the week

This podcast is mainly focussed on the trials and tribulations of the stock picker. However, there are many financial advisors and investment gurus who claim that what really matters for success is asset allocation, (how you distribute your cash between different asset classes), and your risk profile, (the degree of risk your portfolio is exposed too).

Allan is wholly unqualified (and unwilling) to advise anyone on whether this is a good or bad approach. However this weeks resource consists of a set of model portfolios that offer an excellent way for small investors to explore these questions themselves.

https://www.pimfa.co.uk/pimfa-indices/

Article of the week

This week’s article recommendation comes from Hermione Taylor in last week’s Investors Chronicle.

The OECD warns that tariffs could drive a global slowdown. How should investors react?

How to invest during a global slowdown

Since the above article may prove to be behind a paywall, this week’s bonus article is

Ten ways to protect your money from disaster: As the threat of war looms and cyberattacks soar, experts reveal what you can do

Podcast of the week

Behind the Money, Inside Moët Hennessy’s crisis , 18 Jun 2025

This little gem from the Financial Times examines how Moët Hennessy fits within the LVMH group, why it has found itself struggling in recent years, and what implications this has for the group going forward. It’s a great reminder that almost all of our investments are sums of their parts and provides some practical examples of the sorts of things we should be looking out for when we are trying to understand how the companies we invest in really work.

You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts here or search for it on your podcatcher of choice.

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Music and sound effects

Bossa Antigua Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from https://quicksounds.com