07/04/2025
Global Stock Markets have been very volatile maintain focus on your original goals and objectives.
This too shall pass.
In the last few days Donald Trump with his ‘Liberation Day’ tariff blitz has created a storm of global market volatility.
When equity markets are rising it is really easy to stick with the key principles required to be a successful long-term investor; unfortunately, it gets far harder when they start to fall and uncertainty climbs. At the exact time when discipline is required, it can so often desert us.
It is important to remember that markets historically have always shown volatility remember Russia/Ukraine/Middle East wars and conflict, the pandemic, the financial crisis etc.
All these events have made markets, clients, investors more resilient.
It is equally important not to lose sight of what your investment goals and objectives were.
The current tariff turmoil is a perfect opportunity to make some very bad decisions.
To help avoid this, here are some dos and don’ts:
– Don’t keep checking your portfolio.
– Don’t watch financial news.
– Don’t think you will make good investment decisions in this environment.
– Don’t make emotional choices.
– Don’t listen to people who didn’t predict the current market tumult, when they predict what is coming next.
–Don’t listen to anyone predicting anything.
– Do focus on your long-term investing goals.
– Do remind yourself that equity markets have generated strong long-term returns despite frequent periods of losses (which are sometimes severe, and we cannot avoid).
– Do remember that equity market losses always come alongside some worrying news about the future.
– Do remember that this is why you hold a diversified portfolio and have a longer time horizon.
In summary, putting some context into the recent volatility in relation to 2 Global market indexes, take the FTSE 100 and the S&P 500 which both closed on Friday 4th March 2025 with their values very close to where they both were in Aug 2024 last year.
Client’s portfolios are well diversified given the recent events and most of the time doing nothing is still the best decision which is still an active decision.
Maintain your Goals and Objectives and this too shall pass.
Please reach out to me if you have any further concerns.
Best Regards as always Matt.
