Woke up; got out of bed; dragged a comb across my head. Went downstairs and drank a cup, and looking up… ok, that’s enough Beatles lyrics (if memory serves me correctly) for one morning.

Took the dog for a walk around the park this morning; picking up the Telegraph on my way back home. Quite a good read it was too, over my mid-morning coffee. An interesting article about the possible economic recovery and the role fixed income products could play in an era of low interest rates, which got me thinking about my own investments.

This brings to mind my long lost PensionMaster account. It’s a long time since I did anything with it, and I lost a little during the 2007-2008 market turmoil by holding on to some hitherto ‘solid’ investments just a little too long after the tide had turned – even long-term investors need to be wary about blindly buying and holding unconditionally.

As it happens I had cashed out, at a loss, but I had escaped the worst of the scenario that had since unfolded around the world. So here I am sitting on a pile of cash in my PensionMaster account – and I’m feeling like I want to risk a small proportion of it in a fairly low-risk investment. It’s time for some research on the Barclays Stockbrokers website.

There are several covered warrants available, which would amplify my returns if my hunch proved correct within the defined timeframe. But covered warrants are a little too rich for me, considering my cautious approach.

The Barclays Stockbrokers Funds Market has some very interesting professionally managed funds that give me general exposure, but I need more comfort.

Ah, this looks more promising: The iShares £ Corporate Bond (SLXX). The website tells me it is an exchange traded fund (ETF) that offers exposure to 50 sterling denominated investment grade corporate bonds in a single share and pays a variable yield currently over 6.15% (flat). Sounds good although the small print warns me that I can still get back less that I invest and the value can go down as well as up – but nevertheless I’m happy to go ahead on the basis that it forms a small part of my overall investments. I will give them a call tomorrow to find out more.

In the meantime I also like the look of this one; suggested by my son who knows more about these things than I do. The Deutsche Bank DJ STOXX(R)600 Basic Resources ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) and I can buy it in my Barclays Stockbrokers PensionMaster account. Not only that; I can also place a trailing stop order that will lock-in any upside gains but get me out if things start to turn against me. That will certainly save me from having to keep tabs on how my investment is going. Once again, I have to accept that I might lose capital. This is clearly a higher-risk investment than corporate bonds but, despite that, I may be prepared to risk a very small part of my overall portfolio.

So there are a couple of things for me to follow up tomorrow morning. But now… the lawn needs mowing!