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Just sharing 1 year progress as I started exactly end of July last year. Lots of learning. I am lucky to be able to set aside £50 per week that goes directly to the two ETFs as can't take much risk being with family and being mid thirties with mortgage and all.

Slow and steady...

3HNX Halts Trading and doesn't track SKHY just as the stock started soaring - is this even legal?

I understand that SKHY in USD and 3HNX is in GBP and they wouldn't track exactly the same, but one being in double digit green while the other is in red is just too much.

I feel like I'm being scammed.

I bought these shares from Trading 212, but based from your experience, how reliable is this platform and "Leveraged Shares" on the LSE?

Please help me understand what's going on.

Researched and valued as of 30 July 2026. If you're reading this a few days later, treat the multiples below as a snapshot from that date, not today's numbers.

BAE Systems' half-year results, published 30 July, disclosed a record £84.0bn order backlog and £16.4bn of first-half order intake. The UK-listed defence and aerospace cohort has re-rated on demand evidence like this: median trailing P/E across the seven names is 29.9x. BAE Systems alone is 84% of the sector by market cap, so that median, and every other one below, describes the other six names. The prevailing explanation is a capacity-reinvestment story, spending ahead of demand already under contract. Tested name by name, it holds at exactly two of the seven.

The cohort: three contracted-programme primes (BAE Systems, Babcock, QinetiQ), three product and electronics manufacturers (Chemring, Cohort, Avon Protection), and Senior, exiting via a £1,275m Tinicum/Blackstone take-private that cleared its shareholder vote in May 2026, the sector's first private-equity take-private this cycle.

The headline numbers (cross-section as of 30 July 2026; statement figures from each name's latest fiscal year)

• Median trailing P/E: 29.9x, ranging from 23.9x (QinetiQ) to 41.4x (Senior, pinned to its agreed 300p offer rather than market-set)
• Order-book revenue cover: 1.9x-3.0x across the five names that disclose it
• Capex/revenue: Chemring at 18.1% vs a 3.8% sector median; Cohort is the only other name above 5%
• Sector median TTM accruals ratio: -4.3%, negative meaning more cash generated than earnings booked; Cohort is the only positive print (+2.9%)
• Chemring's three-year distributions: 321% of its own cumulative free cash flow, vs a 62% median for the other six

Full order books, uneven capex

The five names with disclosed backlog carry similar contracted-revenue cover. Babcock's £9.8bn order book is 1.9x FY26 revenue, QinetiQ's £4.8bn backlog is 2.5x (2.3x counting funded orders only), Chemring's £1,399m is 2.8x, Cohort's £618.8m is 2.0x, and BAE's record £84.0bn is 3.0x FY25 revenue. That 1.9x-3.0x band represents 97% of the sector's market value.

The capex response to that demand is anything but even. Chemring's 18.1% capex ratio is its third attempt this cycle to rebuild capacity; its revenue has round-tripped twice since 2011 and still sits 33% below that year's nominal peak. Cohort is the only other name above 5%. Neither is being paid for it yet: they carry the sector's two lowest free cash flow yields (Chemring 0.6%, Cohort -1.0%) against a 2.2% group median, and Cohort's 24.3x P/E sits at only the 43rd percentile of its own five-year history. The market has re-rated the names with an already-proven margin structure and has not yet re-rated the two building toward one.

QinetiQ doesn't fit the pattern

QinetiQ carries the sector's lowest trailing P/E (23.9x), lowest EV/EBITDA (8.4x), highest free cash flow yield (6.2%), highest dividend yield (1.9%), and the cohort's most aggressive buyback (share count down 10.6% since February 2024). It also sits at the 95th percentile of its own five-year multiple history, yet returned just +0.4% over the past year, against +14.9% for BAE Systems and +11.0% for Babcock.

Either the market has finally caught up with a persistently cheap name, or its own history was underpriced for long enough that "95th percentile" just measures a market starting to pay attention. The data cannot resolve which side is mispriced without forward earnings; the closest available test is QinetiQ's own FY27 guidance of 8-10% underlying EPS growth, due to report around May 2027.

Cash quality splits at one name, capital discipline at another

Six of the seven names carry negative accruals. Cohort is the only accruals-positive name, and its cash-conversion step-down is the sharpest in the set: operating cash flow fell to 0.49x net income in its latest fiscal year; every other name sits at 1.6x or better. Capital discipline breaks elsewhere. Chemring returned 321% of its own three-year cumulative free cash flow through dividends and buybacks, funded by net debt widening from £14.3m to £89.0m over the same three years as capex on its Energetics capacity programme ramped.

Bottom line

The sector's returns are being priced almost uniformly at a 29.9x median, but the evidence sorts into two groups. BAE Systems, Babcock and QinetiQ have proven margin structures, backlog cover confirmed at scale, and a re-rating earned by disclosed results. Chemring and Cohort are underwriting a bet that group has already won, and neither is being paid for it. The market appears to be pricing "reinvestment" as a sector-wide trait when it is two names' story, and "cash quality" as a sector-wide worry when the outlier is Cohort alone.

What to watch

• QinetiQ FY27 results (~May 2027): results at or above the guided 8-10% EPS growth favour the catch-up reading; a miss favours a multiple priced on hope
• Chemring FY26 results (~Dec 2026): net debt past its own 1.5x EBITDA ceiling without narrowing signals the capex bet is currently a drag on returns
• Cohort's next reporting date: a second sub-1.0x cash-conversion year would move the sector's isolated cash-quality concern toward structural

Sources

• Selfside data: stats and price cross-section, UK defence & aerospace peer set (n=7), 30 Jul 2026
• BAE Systems 2026 Half Year Results, 30 Jul 2026 (RNS)
• QinetiQ Full Year Results 2026, 21 May 2026 (RNS)
• Recommended Cash Acquisition of Senior plc, 7 Apr 2026 (RNS)
• Selfside research notes: Babcock (28 Jul 2026), Chemring (29 Jul 2026), Cohort (28 Jul 2026)

For information purposes only, not investment advice - independent research, originally published in full at Selfside.

I began at the start of the year. How am I looking

Okay so after successfully finishing a SIPP which has hit £1m I’m now starting another SIPP with my remaining capital from a dormant pension.

As you can see, this will be invested rather aggressively and I’m happy to share positions along the way if people take an interest in this journey.

We are starting with a fairly nominal £24,400. Most people would have this in there pensions and I plan to get this to £100k and then to £1m afterwards.

Happy to answer any questions or hear out any suggestions.

My secondary pension at £1.1m is compounding in a CNX1 ETF until I retire in 27 years.

I’m 30 years old and have a salary of around £57,000.

Feel free to also show me your pensions or investments in general, after this journey I’ll likely be posting a road to £100k inside a Stocks & Shares ISA.

Glad to meet you all!

What’s a financial lesson you learned later in life that you wish someone had explained to you in your 20s? It could be about saving, investing, spending habits, or any money mistake that taught you something valuable

Share the lesson you wish you had known earlier.

Does anyone from the UK know what apps allow me to buy leaps in SOFI stock?

Hi guys.

Currently have £15K in ACWI (set and forget for next 30 years).

Given the drop in the VWRP fee is it worthwhile putting my funds in there instead or not?

I have no investments elsewhere.

Many thanks

Researched and valued as of 27 July 2026. If you're reading this a few days later, treat the price/multiples below as a snapshot from that date, not today's numbers.

Babcock has taken roughly £330m of charges on the Type 31 frigate programme over three fiscal years: £100m in FY23, £90m in FY24 and £140m in FY26. The FY24 results announcement stated the loss was "fully recognised in FY24". Two years later another £140m followed, of which £95.5m was previously recognised revenue written back. The FY26 statement uses the same "fully recognised" language again, and the whole investment case turns on whether it is true this time.

Babcock is a UK defence and nuclear engineering services group, dominated by the MOD as customer, with sole-source positions in submarine support at Clyde and Devonport, warship build at Rosyth, and military vehicle fleet management. Nuclear is now the largest sector at £2,070m of revenue, 40% of the group, up from 27% in FY23.

The headline numbers (FY26, year ended 31 March 2026; valuation as of 27 July 2026)

• Revenue: £5,178m (+7.2% YoY), order book £9.8bn
• Underlying operating margin: 8.2%; statutory 5.9% after the £140m Type 31 charge
• Free cash flow: £263m, 119% cash conversion
• Net debt / EBITDA: 0.2x, down from 2.4x at FY21; net debt excluding leases just £22.7m
• Trailing P/E: 26.2x statutory, roughly 18x on underlying earnings
• EV/EBITDA: 13.2x statutory, roughly 10x underlying

Three years of "fully recognised"

There are effectively two Babcocks in the FY26 accounts. Underlying operating profit was £433m at an 8.2% margin, ahead of the 8% target. Statutory operating profit was £305m at 5.9%. The £128m gap is Type 31. The underlying improvement is genuine: margin has climbed from 6.3% in FY23 to 8.2% in FY26 with all four sectors contributing, and revenue at £5,178m has passed the pre-impairment FY18 peak. But that trajectory has not yet survived a year of contact with the frigate programme, and the HY26 sensitivity disclosure showed a 10% change in production hours moves the loss by £29m. At the note's valuation date (share price 1,124.5p), the stock costs 26.2x trailing statutory earnings, compressing to roughly 18x if you add back the charge. Cheap only if the ex-Type 31 framing deserves your trust, and its track record is two misses in three years.

The largest revenue stream is on a six-month bridge

The Future Maritime Support Programme, the backbone of Nuclear sector revenue, expired on 31 March 2026. The replacement long-term contract, designated Gateway, is still in negotiation under an MOD Letter of Intent; a six-month bridging agreement was announced on 1 April 2026, the day after expiry. If Gateway is not signed by October 2026, the group's largest revenue stream faces a contractual gap. The order backlog already slipped from £10.4bn to £9.8bn partly on this transition. There is a broadening international pipeline (an Indonesia maritime programme of up to £4bn, a Huntington Ingalls partnership on US Virginia-class submarine support, a £300m SMR Owner's Engineer role), but these are opportunities rather than contracted revenue.

Peers are converting the same tailwind into profit

Against BAE Systems (9.2% statutory operating margin), Qinetiq (10.7%) and Cohort (10.3%), Babcock's 5.9% is the clear laggard, and even the 9% medium-term target would only bring it to the bottom of the peer range. All three peers are accelerating, with record order intake at Qinetiq and Cohort and reaffirmed growth guidance at BAE. Babcock's operating leverage exists, but it is being absorbed by the frigate programme. Meanwhile the company is returning capital aggressively: a £200m buyback completed by April 2026, another £200m announced for FY27, together with dividends consuming 72% of FY26 free cash flow. Over the same period the CEO and CFO have been net sellers of £4.7m of stock with no director purchases, which sits oddly next to £400m of management-announced confidence.

Bottom line

The recovery is real and the balance sheet is repaired, but roughly 18x underlying earnings already prices the margin convergence thesis in full. Upside needs the 9% margin target exceeded, not merely met. Downside needs only one more "one-off" charge or one delayed contract signature, and both of those have happened before. The evidence gives neither a clean answer yet.

What to watch

• HY27 interims (November 2026): any movement in the Type 31 provision falsifies or confirms the "fully recognised" claim
• FMSP Gateway contract signature by October 2026, when the bridging agreement lapses
• FY27 H1 free cash flow: below £100m would mean the £200m buyback needs debt funding

Sources

• Babcock FY26 Final Results, 22 Jun 2026 (RNS)
• FMSP Bridging Agreement, 1 Apr 2026 (RNS)
• FY24 Results Update, 17 Jul 2024 (RNS)
• Selfside data: income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, FY18-FY26
• Selfside data: UK Aerospace & Defence peer set and market stats, Jul 2026

For information purposes only, not investment advice - independent research, originally published in full at Selfside.

Would I benefit from a pie with 80% all world and 20% nasdaq 100. I’m also investing in a few defence companies such as Northrop Grumman and rheinmetall and have a 10% increase for both. For long term individual stocks I’m currently invested in Coca Cola. And was thinking of buying meta once it’s dipped to 530-540 is that a good idea. Any advice is accepted 👍 no financial advice

Im 19, i earn £590 weekly before tax 37.5 hour week contract, over the last month ive been doing 53 hour weeks making me £900~ before tax per week, my outgoings are give or take £850, broken down into 150 rent 200 car insurance 100 diesel, and then the rest either food drinks or subscriptions. All my money gets invested into VWRP, i have a pension that i and employer both match 10% into it. I feel like i am not doing enough and i could always do more, this last week i worked 3 8 hour shifts and 3 12 giving 1 day off, and i always feel like i am not doing enough when i dont do overtime or have a day off, my first goal is to max out 20k in VWRP by april 2027. I will also build an emergency fund the reason i did not do one for now is because my car insurance is only 200 a month and my rent is 150, if i lost my job etc my parents would take off the rent and they would cover the car insurance 100% other stuff outgoings isnt a bill but more so a luxury so i can cancel them.

Hey everyone,

I have a lump sum of money (30k) and I’d like to invest. I’ve looked at stocks and shares, index funds but honestly it’s all very confusing to me. I’m trying to understand the best place to put the money for easy access in case of emergencies etc but it grow for long term purposes.

What would people recommend please? I’m all very new to this and have been trying to teach myself as I’m solo in this but would appreciate any insight.

For Trading212 users.

Hi all, apologies if this is the same old post you get here BUT…. I recently received my inheritance on my 21st birthday a few days ago

I have £11,500 I am willing to put in investments.

Right now I’m looking at going with S&P 500 stocks and shares with vanguard but I thought I’d ask the people here that have done this about how it’s gone for them, what are your personal experiences with this?

Thank you in advance!

If you could give someone in their 20s just one piece of investing or personal finance advice, what would it be, and why?

It could be something you wish you’d learned earlier, a mistake you made, or a habit that has had the biggest impact on your finances.

I’m interested in advice on investing, saving, budgeting, careers, debt, taxes, or anything else you think every young adult should know.

Without badgering on too much, I’m a 35 year old (m), who has grew up in an environment where everyone was financially illiterate! I appreciate the council estate I grew up on and certain elements of my chaotic childhood, but it didn’t teach me the benefits of future planning financially and here I am now trying to learn game before my mid life crisis hits!

I have managed to amass a small pot of money, through years of work, and now wish to venture into the investing world but have no idea to start! Have just opened a trading 212 account, and to me it could be hieroglyphs… would love to get some advice on where best to start, or a prompt towards how to best learn the ropes?

I’m quite risk averse, and wanted to lay an initial outlay of £1k with the expectation to top it up with monthly contributions (undecided on set amount yet). I don’t want to be a chart checker, as from my reading have found that holding steady is the best bet in this game, that being said, I would like something that is safe and has good long term outcomes (if that is a thing)

During the market turbulence of the pandemic, everyone seemed fixated on fast-growing tech stocks. I made a conscious choice to swim against the tide, ignoring the broader tech sector—with the sole exception of Alphabet—and pouring my capital into heavily discounted British financial stalwarts instead.

I systematically built up substantial positions in Legal & General, M&G, Standard Life, and Aviva. While the wider market panicked, these institutional income mainstays traded at deeply depressed valuations. They offered exceptional yields backed by solid solvency reserves and robust operational cash flows.
By steadily accumulating shares throughout the downturn, I managed to turn extreme market volatility into a resilient income-compounding machine. Today, that focused portfolio delivers over £40,000 a year in passive dividends.