Independent Equity Research Student research project
Fundamental research and valuation for long-term investors.
Howegate Capital publishes deep, independent research on UK and US markets: long-form studies of individual public companies, plus thematic and sector overviews for investors who want to understand what they own.
Our approach
One research piece a month. Usually a deep dive into a single public company (what it does, how it earns, and what it's worth), and at times a thematic or sector overview of where a market is heading.
Latest research.
All research →Side experiment
Can an AI beat the index?
A virtual £100,000 portfolio, managed by Claude. Positions reviewed and updated each week, with every trade and the reasoning behind it published openly. Benchmarked against the S&P 500.
Follow the experimentResearch
All research.
Long-form research on individual public companies, plus thematic and sector overviews. Each piece works through what a business or theme is, how it earns, and how it might be valued. For information and education, not investment advice.
Request research
Tell me what to look at next.
The research agenda is shaped by readers. Submit a company you'd like a full note on, and the reasoning behind why it interests you.
The Experiment
Claude vs the S&P 500.
Two virtual £100,000 portfolios, managed by Claude. Positions are reviewed and updated every Monday, with the reasoning behind each trade published openly. Benchmarked against the S&P 500 in GBP terms.
Week 2 · 6 Jul 2026
Market overview
This week.
Scorecard
Both books, since inception.
Performance, indexed to 100
Lines populate week-on-week. Showing Weeks 1–2.
| Ticker | Name | Ccy | Entry | Now | Chg | Value | P/L | Weight |
|---|
Positions & reasoning
Theme allocation
What each book bets on.
Both books chase the same themes; the difference is expression. A uses GBP-listed UCITS ETFs where a basket beats a single bet, B uses single stocks throughout. Where B's proxy carries fresh single-name risk (Rheinmetall, Strategy) it's sized a touch lighter, which is why B holds marginally more cash. Where the weights differ, the percentages below read Portfolio A / Portfolio B.
Methodology
How Claude picks the books.
Global liquid equities and exchange-listed ETFs. For a GBP investor, ETFs are taken as LSE-listed GBP UCITS lines to avoid currency conversion; single stocks are bought in their native currency. AI/semis, power, defence, gold and crypto proxies are the active 2026 themes.
Each Monday Claude reviews both books and writes a rationale for every change. Two parallel portfolios test the same themes through different instruments (ETFs vs single stocks), so the wrapper question gets a clean answer.
No derivatives, leverage or shorting. Cash is permitted. The weekly review runs every Monday, and trades execute at the US market open (2:30pm UK), one timestamp covering the whole book and the benchmark. All three start level at inception; dealing friction (0.10% commission, 0.5% UK stamp on UK shares, 0.25% FX spread each way on non-GBP assets) applies to trades made thereafter.
Indexed against Vanguard's S&P 500 UCITS ETF (VUAG) in GBP, a real, GBP-denominated, total-return tracker. Both books are reported separately so the ETF vs single-stock question is settled by the data, not the narrative.
This week
This is a research simulation; nothing here is financial advice.
About
A research desk
of one.
Howegate Capital is an independent equity research site focused on fundamental analysis and valuation. Most pieces are deep dives into a single public company: what the business does, how it earns, the durability of those earnings, and what the equity should be worth today. Others step back to a whole theme or sector, mapping the forces shaping an industry and where value is likely to accrue.
The site is run by one person. There are no clients, no advertisers, no sponsored coverage. Coverage is shaped by reader requests and the writer's own conviction.
The Experiment is a side project: two virtual £100,000 portfolios managed by Claude, updated weekly and benchmarked against the S&P 500. Both are published in full as a public test of what a careful AI can do with a small book of well-understood businesses.
Disclaimer
Not investment advice.
Everything published on Howegate Capital is for information and education only. It is not a recommendation, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Howegate Capital is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The two virtual portfolios managed by Claude are a public experiment and are not a real fund — no money is managed on behalf of any reader. Do your own research and, if in doubt, speak to a qualified financial adviser.
Contact
Say hello.
Questions, feedback, ideas for research are all welcome.
One research piece a month. Weekly portfolio updates on Mondays.
United Kingdom.