Hei fra norge

It's been over 4 months since I last posted, and I'm now living in Norway.  I've sold my house in the UK, which means that once again I have funds available for investment.  At the moment I'm a bit too busy renovating my house and learning Norwegian to do any in-depth research, so my plan is:

• Get a sensible overall asset allocation.
• Invest funds that I'm happy to tie up for the long term.
• Invest in safe, low-maintenance shares I already know well.

Asset allocation

I'm no longer tied very tightly to the UK.  I still have family and friends there, so I will be visiting regularly, but it doesn't make sense to have most of my funds tied up in sterling.  On the other hand, investment opportunities in Norway are limited, so I don't want my money tied up in kroner.  I have a vague future entitlement to some US dollars through my work, so I don't want to be overweight in dollars now.  I need a decent mix - lets say 40% UK, 30% US, 30% Euro/other.  I don't mind if shares are denominated in sterling if they're really international.

Funds for the long term

Of my available cash right now I'm going to invest half and keep the rest in cash.  I'm not yet sure if I'll spend that cash in the near future, or invest it later.

Shares I know well

Here are some of the various shares that I owned recently and was happy with:

• Berkshire Hathaway.  I need look no further for the US part of my portfolio.
• Tesco.  I like Tesco a lot, and they look pretty cheap on a P/E ratio of 11.
• Next.  I like Next, but they are in a difficult industry.  They've done fantastically well, but will they continue to do so for the next 10 years?  I wouldn't like to say.  And therefore they fail the "low-maintenance" test.
• NWBD.  Currently on a yield of just under 10%.  Seems a pretty good deal, although this is obviously totally UK focused.
• Lloyds.  Look very cheap, but beyond my powers of research, so I'm going to rule them out.
• Diageo.  Moderately expensive, and they do have a lot of debt, but I also like them quite a lot.  They're also a good international company - although the share price is in sterling the UK is not a big market for them.  
• British American Tobacco.  Too expensive on a P/E ratio of 19.
• BP.  Pretty cheap, and very international.
• Greene King.  Very UK focused, and although they are well-led I wouldn't like to predict how they will do in the next 10 years.

So putting it all together my candidates are:

• US: Berkshire Hathaway.
• UK: Tesco, NWBD.
• Euro/other: Diageo, BP.

I expect to invest my funds over the next few weeks.