Coronavirus and The Stock Markets – What Should I Do Now?

It’s ok and totally understandable to be concerned about your investment and pension portfolios right now. Please take a few minutes to read this blog in full. I hope it helps you through this period of uncertainty and that it will help you to

#StickWithThePlan

A well planned year

 
There we were in late December planning what we would do throughout 2020 as a team at Metis Ireland. For the first time ever, we had planned out our marketing activities and events, meticulously and month by month.

The year started off in a wonderful manner with stock markets hitting new heights. We brought on board some great new clients who wanted and saw the value in Real Financial Planning via their own Metis LifePlan.
 
We added some real talent to our team too and were all set for an amazing year without any speed bumps. Then life happened!
 
We had Brexit. Not unexpected but still a bitter pill to swallow for some and it will continue to adversely affect some of our best clients. We needed to amend and rethink some Metis LifePlans.
 
Then we had a snap general election that has thrown up the possibility of a totally new government with some interesting (!) ideas about how pension funds should work. This was so significant that we felt we had to send out a mail to our clients to explain the possible implications. Contact Cian Callaghan if you missed that broadcast.
 
Then the English hammered us in rugby. This had nothing to do with Financial Planning but difficult to take nonetheless.
 
And now the Corona Virus takes centre stage. There is huge uncertainty as to what will happen next. This is making our clients (indeed all investors) very nervous and edgy.

It’s OK to be concerned

 
It is really so important to say this clearly – It is 100% ok to be worried and feel uneasy about your investment and pension portfolios right now. We are all human and feel these emotions.
 
It is however equally important to make sure you remember that, assuming you have a long term financial plan, when you started your investment strategy that you were in it for the long haul. It is vital that you remember some important points right now, such as:
 
1) Patient and long-term investors always win out
2) Nobody “saw this coming” and nobody can call when things will improve
3) Market timing is not sustainable and those claiming they can do it are wrong (& often lucky in the short term)
4) All of the evidence, points towards a buy and hold strategy
5) When the last big temporary decline happened around the time of the financial crisis, those investors who did nothing, had the best results
6) Investor behaviour (i.e. tinkering with your portfolio) is the biggest cause of investors getting less than the market return
7) This time it is NOT different. It is never different. The stock markets will go up over time
8) These types of temporary declines are common and the important word here is temporary

Here’s what I wrote to our clients earlier this week:

 
1) “It’s ok to be scared
2) We have your back, we know what we are doing and we’ll be here for you for the long term
3) You can call or email anyone in Metis Ireland right now if you feel that will help
4) You can arrange a meeting with anyone in Metis Ireland right now if you feel a face to face meeting will help (note we can do a face to face meeting over Zoom too)
5) This is our All Ireland Final. This is what we prepare for every single day when we turn up to serve our clients.
6) We are all over this even if you are not hearing from us every second of the day
7) We know this is concerning for you.
8) We believe in your investment strategies and we have invested in the same things
9) We are not making changes to our own strategies while telling you to stick with yours – we are also staying in our seat
10) This will pass, trust us this will pass”

Our clients know that what we are advising now is what we have always advised. If you need a reminder of the type of content we have produced over the last few years, have a read of some of these articles that we have written:
 

Stock Market Volatility
Investment Philosophy
Nobody Knows
Know Your Behavioural Biases
Ignore the Noise – #StickWithThePlan

Here’s something else I wrote to our clients earlier this week:

 
“If you choose to make contact with us, we promise to listen and consider your concerns compassionately. We will also promise to advise you as we see best. This helps you get the best value out of our relationship. Together we will see this pass. Together we will keep our eyes on the long term and make sure we don’t make long term decisions based on short term concerns.
 
Please do not let this bother you more than it has to. Call us right now if we can help.”
 
If you are deeply concerned right now, that’s ok. That’s totally understandable. You probably need to look at a long term financial plan. We call it the Metis LifePlan. It’s a game changer. Everyone should have one. It helps keep you calm and to stay in your seat.
 
If you call us, we’ll listen and help you overcome your fears. We’ll proactively help you and ensure you are focusing on the important things in life.
 
Carl Widger
Managing Director