I am as conscious as anybody with regard to the above virus and its potential impact and consequence. A recent financial example would be the demise of Flybe, to which the coronavirus was a contributory factor. Natural animal instincts are fear, driven by fight or flee. So how can one consider investment at such a time, when currently 24 hour news channels and the press are swamping us with a savage feeding frenzy of headline information, with many showing a scant disregard to any in depth analysis and reality.
To clarify some facts, I did some research in the reliable analyses from the UK government, “Surveillance of influenza and other respiratory viruses in the UK” annual reports from 2014-2019. The following fact came to light: deaths in England with a contributory factor from the “flu” have varied from 14,000 to below 10,000 in each “peak season” during this period.
Viruses do mutate and new strains appear. With COVID-19 there is a documented risk for the elderly, in particular, those who may have pre-existing medical conditions, but you need to keep things in perspective.
Investing for the future
A simple phrase from Warren Buffet springs to mind, “When everybody is being greedy, be fearful; when everybody is being fearful, be greedy”.
So how do fund managers cope with this onslaught? How can they take into account all the facts referred to above? We live in a global world which has, nevertheless, regional differences. The multi-asset fund managers that we use have the resources to have access to massive amounts of data, which enables them to take all of this into account.
They invest for the long term, with an eye kept on short term risk. But they avoid short term “knee-jerk” reactions, taking a longer term view based on a minimum 5 year investment analysis and taking a balanced approach
So what’s our role as Financial Advisers? In previous articles I have eluded to each individual’s circumstances. Apart from the pure investment questions, so many other aspects need to be considered for effective financial planning including your personal situation, how much risk you want to take and how long you want to invest for. So a detailed fact find has to be the way forward, and that is carried out by us, not the fund managers. These fact finds are free, and are based on each individual’s requirements and circumstances. So feel free to contact me for a no obligation meeting, apart from the provision of a coffee!