The £1K Investment Lab
A real £1,000 portfolio, run as a research and learning project rather than a trading challenge. Every position starts with a written thesis, every transaction is recorded, and the reasoning is never rewritten after the fact.
- Portfolio value
- £1,000.00£1,000 starting capital
- Total return
- 0.0%£0.00
- Primary benchmark — VWRP
- —FTSE All-World · from the first trade
- Excess return
- —vs VWRP · from the first trade
- Secondary — VUAG / S&P 500
- —Reference only · from the first trade
- Cash
- £1,000100.0% of portfolio
- Invested
- £0
- Holdings
- 0Limit of 8
The first position will be added when there's an investment case worth documenting, and its thesis will be published alongside it.
Until then the £1,000 sits in cash. Every figure above is calculated from an empty transaction log, not typed in.
Positions and cash
Valued at the latest price mark. Weights include cash; contribution is each position's gain or loss as a share of the starting £1,000.
| Holding | Shares | Avg cost | Price | Value | Weight | Return | Contribution | Thesis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CashGBP | — | — | — | £1,000.00 | 100.0% | — | — | — |
Against the starting £1,000
- Primary benchmark — VWRP
- A broad global equity tracker used as the Lab's main passive alternative.
- Secondary reference — VUAG
- An S&P 500 tracker used to put performance in context against US large-cap equities.
Why these benchmarks?
VWRP, Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (Accumulating) (London Stock Exchange · GBP; tracks the FTSE All-World). The Lab can buy shares anywhere: US, UK, Europe or elsewhere. The most neutral passive alternative is therefore the global equity market, and VWRP holds large and mid-sized companies across developed and emerging markets. It reinvests dividends, which keeps the comparison closer to total return. It answers the central question: did picking stocks add value over simply owning the global market?
VUAG, Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Accumulating) (London Stock Exchange · GBP; tracks the S&P 500). Many of the companies analysed here are large US businesses, so the S&P 500 is a useful, demanding reference for that opportunity set. It is not the main hurdle because the Lab is not limited to US shares. It also reinvests dividends, for a cleaner comparison.
Excess return is always measured against VWRP; VUAG is context only. Benchmarks aren't changed after seeing results; any change is recorded with a dated reason.
Every trade, as recorded
Rows are never edited or deleted. A mistake is fixed by adding a correction, and both stay visible.
Why each position exists
The original case keeps its date. Later thinking is added as dated updates, so earlier reasoning stays visible, including where it was wrong.
How the lab runs
- £1,000, onceStarting capital is £1,000. No top-ups, no withdrawals to tidy up a bad run.
- No leverage, no optionsShares and funds only. No margin, CFDs, spread bets or derivatives.
- A handful of positionsAt most eight holdings at once, so every one has to earn its place.
- Every position has a thesisNothing is bought without a written case for it, linked from the transaction.
- Every transaction is recordedDate, price, currency, fees and the reason — including the sells and the mistakes.
- Reasoning is never rewrittenTheses keep their original date and text. Later thinking is added as dated updates.
- Losses stay visibleClosed and losing positions remain on the page with everything else.
- Measured, not marketedReturns are calculated from the records and compared with a global tracker (VWRP), with the S&P 500 (VUAG) as a reference.
- Learning, not adviceThis is a research and learning project with real money. Nothing here is a recommendation.