Lost £45k Selling Rolls-Royce Shares Too Soon: What Now?

A reader says they sold their Rolls-Royce shares in May 2023 at 148p and later regretted it as the stock climbed to more than 1,500p. They estimate the position, worth about £5,000 at the sale, would now exceed £50,000. The investor had shifted from Rolls-Royce, Aviva and Lloyds Bank into a single global index fund, after concluding their portfolio was too concentrated in a handful of FTSE-listed names. In response, Ed Magnus of This is Money argues the move was reasonable at the time because timing individual stocks is hard. He notes Rolls-Royce’s share price trended downward from 437p in 2013 to 65p in 2022, despite ups and downs. The reply adds that sticking with diversified, low-cost index funds may suit many investors, citing Warren Buffett, and introduces fund manager Tom Matthews for stock-picking guidance.