After well over 1,000 issues Shares time as a weekly publication is coming to an end. A new monthly version is in the works for customers of AJ Bell and, if that applies to you, remember to look out for that later this year.

However, it is clearly a good time to take stock. Having worked for Shares for 18 of its 26 years it’s been my privilege and pleasure to edit the magazine for the last 18 months or so. Throughout my time in charge and under my predecessors we have tried to remain true to our mission of making investing easier by offering education, insight and analysis and investment ideas on a regular basis.

I’ve asked two key questions of anything we produce, both in my role as an editor and a writer for Shares. First, have we explained what can be quite complex concepts in a way which can be easily understood? Second, have we added any value beyond just reporting what has happened?

We won’t always have got it right – after all if we had that ability we would be sitting on a desert island right now supping cocktails –  but a huge amount of hard work has gone in from countless individuals over the years to making Shares what it is and has been.

I’d like to pay tribute to the current editorial team – Ian Conway, James Crux, Martin Gamble, Sabuhi Gard and Steven Frazer – for all of their efforts, to our team of talented designers, those working on the commercial side too and those who filled those roles in the past. I’d also like to thank the many companies and funds we have interviewed, PR professionals and wider industry for their support over the years too. 

Nothing of what we have achieved the last quarter of a century or so could have happened without them.

From flagging oil at $100 per barrel months before it reached that milestone in 2008 to our much more recent prediction for gold to hit $4,000 (a mark it is fast approaching) we have certainly made some bold calls which have been proven correct.

Less positively, and just to bring us back down to earth, among our key ideas for 2025 was Diageo (DGE), one of the very worst FTSE 100 performers so far this year. This illustrates just how tricky it can be to call the markets. That’s why the best parting advice I can offer is to maintain diversified exposure to the financial markets for the long term. Finally, a big thanks to all of you for reading without which none of this would have been possible.

In this final weekly edition the team has come up with a list of their favourite stocks, we interview popular investment trust RIT Capital (RCP) and Martin Gamble looks at three key bits of wisdom from Warren Buffett which can be applied to your own investing.

One last administrative point, the Shares website should continue operating until the end of the year but without new content being uploaded after the end of this week.

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