How has the current Covid-19 crisis impacted your investments?

Dear Client,

We have had a few investors asking to see the present values of their investments.

They are asking to compare the values as they are now, with the previous values

from a few months ago.

We are happy to send you these values should you request them, but would like to

comment on these as follows:

• Given the current volatility of the markets, our advice to clients is to try not focus on their most recent investment performance or valuations. These values are changing every single day by as much as 8 % and 9 % per day. Most markets do not see fluctuations of more than 9 % per year, and yet right now they are moving that much in a day!

• All markets both local and International are down by as much as 30 % to 40 % since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic. This is not a permanent loss of value in these markets, it is the change in sentiment of Investors.

• The underlying assets have not performed poorly or run into cash flow problems; they are still worth approximately the same amount as they were before the crisis. It is only the reaction of investors that has changed. What this means, is that when the circumstances surrounding this crisis change, the underlying assets will revert to their true value and your investments will recover.

All Asset Managers and Advisors are saying exactly the same thing: Do not make any changes during this exceptionally volatile period. Sit it out and wait until the markets return to normality, you will then have the opportunity to change your investments to a very cautious selection if you fear another downturn like this one.

 

Your investments are spread across a number of different assets to give you

greater security, but at a time like this, we see every asset class, apart from Cash,

drop in value. We will not recommend a change to Cash when the crisis is over, as it

is not a wise solution in the long run.

 

So, our advice to all clients, is to try to ignore the present value of your investments.

These values are just going to disturb you. We are watching the markets and

understand why they have fallen and will let you know when they have recovered.

The markets will recover and your patience will be rewarded.

We hope that this helps to put your minds at rest.

 

Kind regards,

The Team at Harcourt Martens & Associates, FG Investment Partners