There is, sadly, no such thing as a perfect portfolio. There is no sure-fire way to beat the market – and even chucking your money in a cheap tracker fund can dent your savings in the event of a stock market slump. 

But our new “Rate my Portfolio” series has shown that DIY investors continue to find innovative ways to make their money grow. Readers who have ditched advisers have sometimes doubled their money or boosted their portfolio by 20pc in a year. 

There has been an enormous range of strategies and, while each investor has his or her own ambitions for their portfolio, we hope that the series not only has helped those who have written in to make more informed decisions about their investments but has been a useful learning resource for others too. 

Here we compile the lessons from 2021’s Rate my Portfolio series, examining readers’ most common complaints, mistakes and anxieties. While the new Covid variant has clouded the outlook for stocks next year, we hope that lessons from 2021 may help investors to take a smoother path through the markets in 2022. 

How can you protect yourself from a market crash? 

As global stocks end 2021 close to new record highs, it is perhaps unsurprising that our most common query this year was how to protect a portfolio from a market crash while still having the chance to make attractive returns. 

Even professional investors have grown nervous over the prospect of a sudden reversal. A survey conducted by Deutsche Bank found that 19pc of investors thought the American benchmark index would fall in 2022. Most expected a meagre return of 4.2pc.

Simon Hogan*, a 53-year-old helicopter engineer from Hampshire, wrote in to tell us that he was worried his £350,000 pension would be hit by any sudden drops in the stock market.