My Investments Update – June 2026
Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my May 2026 Investments Update here if you like.
I’ll begin as usual with my JP Morgan Personal Investing (previously Nutmeg) Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).
As regular readers will know, in June last year I transferred most of the money in my former Nutmeg Fully Managed portfolio (just under £25,000) to a new Nutmeg Income Portfolio. I discussed this in detail in this post, but basically money in this port is invested to generate an income from share dividends and other sources. This is then paid monthly. Capital appreciation is targeted as well, but these portfolios are aimed primarily at older people (and others) who want/need their investment to generate a regular cash income.
In May my JPM Investing income portfolio generated £85.59 of income, which was duly paid into my bank account on 24 May 2026. That means I have now received tax-free income of £425.38 in 2026 and a total of £896.84 since I opened the account in June last year. That’s a return on capital of a little over 3% to date. That is a bit less than I would have hoped based on JPM’s original projected annual return of just under 5% for income ports at my chosen risk level (five).
The better news is that my income portfolio increased in value again in May. It’s now worth £28,282 compared with £27,852 at the start of last month, a rise of £430. As the screen capture below shows, my income port is up by a respectable £2,679 (10.46%) after fees since I opened it last June (almost a year ago).
I still have a smaller, growth-oriented pot using JPM Investing’s Smart Alpha option. This is now nominally worth worth £5,239 (rounded up) compared with £5,017 a month ago, a rise of £222. I say nominally because I have just arranged to withdraw £2,000 from this pot to pay for some essential building work. The value shown in the screen capture reflects this, although the funds in question haven’t actually been sold yet. Here is a screen capture showing performance over the year to date.
Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg/JPM’s thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March 2024 I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses (something I no longer receive). As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £1,038 compared with £998 last month, a rise of £40.
Overall in May the value of my JPM investments rose by £692 or 2.05%. In addition I did, of course, receive £85.59 in income from my income portfolio. In total, then, I am £777.59 up for the month.
Excluding income generated, the overall value of my JPM investments is up by £4,373 or 14.49% since the start of June 2025. If you add to this the £896.84 of income generated by my Income portfolio to date, that gives a total profit for the last 12 months of £5,269.84 – a pretty good return in these uncertain times.
Some volatility is always to be expected with stock market investments, but in the longer term they tend to even themselves out (and typically outperform bank savings accounts, although that is never guaranteed). In general the worst thing you can do is panic and sell up when downturns occur (as happened in March due to events in the Middle East). You are then crystallizing your losses rather than giving the markets time to recover. That is something I discussed last year in this blog post.
You can read my full original Nutmeg/JPM review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last nine years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.
- As mentioned, Nutmeg have rebranded as J.P. Morgan Personal Investing and their website is now at www.personalinvesting.
jpmorgan.com.
Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Housemartin. As discussed in this post, the company rebranded last year from Assetz Exchange.
My investments with Housemartin continue to generate steady returns. Housemartin focuses on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.
Since I opened my account, my HM portfolio has generated a respectable £320.71 in revenue from rental income. I have made a small net loss of £17.60 on property disposals. Capital growth generally has slowed, in line with UK property values generally.
At the time of writing, 18 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 7 are breaking even, and the remaining 21 are showing losses. My portfolio of 46 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £72.64. That means that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease and loss on disposal) I am up by £230.47. That’s still a respectable return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio. And it doesn’t hurt that with Housemartin most projects are socially beneficial as well.
- A further consideration is that property investments on Housemartin are less likely to be affected by stock market downturns, as happened in March due to events in the Middle East. This again demonstrates the potential value of such investments for diversifying your portfolio during challenging times.
The net fall in capital value of my Housemartin investments is obviously a little disappointing. But it’s important to remember that until/unless I choose to sell the investments in question, it is largely theoretical, based on the latest price at which shares in the property concerned have changed hands. The rental income, on the other hand, is real money (which in my case I’ve reinvested in other HM projects to further diversify my portfolio).
To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of Housemartin as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as £1 per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.
- As I noted in this blog post, Housemartin is particularly good if you want to compound your returns by reinvesting rental income. This effectively boosts the interest rate you are receiving. Personally, once I have accrued a minimum of £10 in rental payments, I usually reinvest this money in either a new HM project or one I have already invested in (thus increasing my holding). Over time, even if I don’t invest any more capital, this will ensure my investment with Housemartin grows at an accelerating rate and becomes more diversified as well.
My investment on Housemartin is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Housemartin and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my original review of Assetz Exchange/Housemartin here and my article about the rebranding to Housemartin here. You can also sign up for an account directly via this link [affiliate].
In 2022 I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest).
In January 2023 I added to this with another $500 investment in one of their thematic portfolios, Oil Worldwide. I also invested a small amount I had left over in Tesla shares.
In January this year, as Oil Worldwide hadn’t exactly been setting the world alight, I decided to switch my entire investment in this to another smart portfolio, InTheGame. This port, focusing on the computer gaming industry, had been the top performer for some time in my eToro virtual portfolio.
Unfortunately just as I switched away from Oil Worldwide, President Trump decided to invade Venezuela. This gave the oil industry a significant boost, which I would otherwise have benefited from. Meanwhile InTheGame went south, partly due to the war in the Middle East. At one point I was down by over 10% on this investment. Fortunately in the last two months InTheGame has made an impressive recovery and is now in profit by 11.87%.
As you can see from the screen captures below, my original eToro investment (total value £888.36 in pounds sterling) is today worth £1,264.50, an overall increase of £376.14 or 42.34%.
- Note: eToro now displays the value of investments in your native currency, although you can change this if you wish.
You can read my full review of eToro here. You may also like to check out my more in-depth look at eToro copy trading. I also discussed thematic investing with eToro using Smart Portfolios in this post.
As mentioned above, my new investment in InTheGame is currently up by 11.87%. My copy trading investment with Aukie2008 also rose in value in May and is showing an impressive overall profit of 75.87%. Of course, I have held this investment for quite a bit longer.
My Tesla shares, which I purchased as an afterthought with some spare cash I had in my account, are also up this month and showing an overall profit of over 292% since I bought them. If only I had put a bit more money into this!
You might also notice that I have small holdings in Prosus NV, a Dutch internet group, and South Bow, a Canadian energy infrastructure company. To be honest I don’t understand how I acquired these, but I assume they are some sort of bonus I was awarded. In any event, I am happy to have them in my portfolio.
- If you would like more information about setting up an eToro account, please click on this no-obligation website link [affiliate]. Don’t forget that you also get a free $100,000 virtual portfolio, which you can use to experiment with trading and investing strategies. I have certainly earned a lot from mine.
As an experiment, at the start of April 2025 I put £50 into an investment ISA with Trading 212. As mentioned in my blog post about dividend investing, I put it into the (Almost) Daily Dividends Portfolio, a ready-made portfolio or ‘pie’ on Trading 212. As you can see from the screen capture below, my portfolio is now worth £59.98. That’s a rise of £0.41 since last month and an increase of £10.39 or 20.7% since I opened it just over a year ago. It has even accrued a grand total of £1.20 in dividends, most of which has now been (automatically) reinvested.
I am quite impressed with how this investment has been faring, despite the small amount I put in (which means I may be missing out on some smaller dividends). If I increased my investment I would almost certainly become eligible for more dividends, and even more the longer I remain invested. Of course, I do now have an income-focused portfolio with JPM Investing as well (see above), so realistically it’s unlikely I shall be investing any more in this account for the foreseeable future. I have therefore decided to stop including it in my monthly updates from now on.
Moving on, 
In Moneysaving Perks and Discounts for Retired People I set out a variety of perks and discounts available specifically for retired and older people in the UK. Some are well known, while others fly under the radar. Either way, taking advantage of them can make a real difference to your finances over the course of a year. Find out more in the article.
And in Here’s Why Prolific Academic Could be the Ideal Side Hustle for Seniors I discussed this online platform that connects researchers – mainly from universities and other academic institutions – with members of the public willing to take part in research studies. I explained why I think this sideline-earning opportunity is ideally suited to older people. As the article says, it’s flexible, straightforward, low-pressure and genuinely interesting. You can do as much or as little as you like, earn a bit of extra money, help academic research and keep mentally active at the same time. Prolific Academic is my personal favourite side hustle these days!
Finally, in case you’re wondering, my cover image this month shows the lovely Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. It’s probably still best known as the setting for 1960s cult TV show ‘The Prisoner’. I have just booked a short break in the village for later in the summer, fulfilling a long-standing ambition not just to visit Portmeirion but actually stay there. I wonder if I will be summoned to Number 2’s house during my visit!
I’ll close with my customary reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as it is now). Twitter/X is my number one social media platform and I post regularly there. I share the latest news and information on financial matters, and other things that interest, amuse or concern me. So if you aren’t following my PAS account on Twitter/X, you are definitely missing out!
- I am also on the BlueSky social media network under the username poundsandsense.bsky.social. Twitter/X remains my primary social media platform, but I also post details of my latest blog posts, third-party articles and other financial news and resources on BlueSky for those who prefer to follow me there.
As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers 
Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.
Note also that posts on PAS may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!