Remember as a kid waiting to get on a ride at an amusement park, and asking your friends who just finished the ride, “how was it?!” As adults we don’t have the same desire to experience the “thrills” of a scary roller coaster anymore. Our bodies and nerves now won’t find it near as exciting, and rarely will we even get on such a ride out of fear or perhaps because “we’ve been there done that”.
The coronavirus lead to a market reaction that resembled an aggressive roller coaster. With a quick bottoming out of the S&P 500 on March 23rd, it twisted and tumbled up and down and around in 50 thrilling days up to this point.
How was the ride for you? Perhaps you experienced calm because as an experienced investor, you’ve been there, done that. Not your first roller coaster huh? As an experienced investor perhaps, your portfolio has been stress tested many times in the past. Did you change the makeup of your portfolio after “the ride” was over? Or did you think, “that wasn’t so bad”.
The challenges in 2020 have and continue to be considerable, so the “ride” will continue. You should now have a good idea of how your portfolio held up and if you should consider changes going forward. Some will want to maintain the current strategy while others may decide they can handle a bit more risk or perhaps will want less risk. This is a personal decision between you and your advisory team and should be based only on your family’s financial picture. Too often we hear the stories of a neighbor or co-worker bragging about unique ways of beating the market. Interesting that those same people never seem to let you know when their unique strategy fails.
Continue to stay safe. We hope to see you in person very soon.