I was travelling back to Brittany by train from Luxembourg on Friday 26 July. A day that may have been remembered for it being the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris. I expected some disruption due to the sheer number of people visiting Paris, but I’d no idea what would happen next.
Off The Rails
By Michael Doyle
This article is published on: 1st November 2024
If you don’t know by now the rail network was attacked by vandals who set fire to the fibre optics on the tracks and in doing so put almost 800,000 train services “off the rails”.
What I was impressed by was the network’s response. They had police at most if not all stations affected, they increased the labour rate and what could have been a disaster was handled swiftly and efficiently, with trains back running within two days.
As financial planners, we sometimes have to deal with unforeseen and disruptive events. What happened on the rail network was totally unexpected. As a financial planner, I’ve had to guide my clients through the following over recent years:
- The Brexit referendum and stock-market response that followed
- Donald Trump’s election as US president
- Covid (when stock-markets all but shut down)
- The Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Trump losing to Biden
The main thing my clients were happy with was that I provided reliable guidance on investment repercussions and how to address the events.
This was through either:
- Reviewing and validating their existing investment strategies
- Rebalancing portfolios to ensure still aligned with agreed investment objectives
- Discussing tactical opportunities in response to market conditions
- Proposing suitable investment funds or asset managers
- Reassessing their attitude to risk
So if you had a nervous time with your own financial planning during those uncertain times, or indeed at any time, give me a call and we can work together to ensure you remain “on track” to achieve your financial goals.