THE GLOBAL MARKETS

TODAY’S BLOG

THE GLOBAL MARKETS

There is little chance that you have escaped the news or the reality that the global stock markets have been very turbulent. The charts are either setting new records or getting pretty close to them. So, by way of an update I thought that I should remind you of some of the basic investment principles that we believe and are applied to your portfolio.

Firstly, we cannot control the markets. Let us simply acknowledge the reality that the prices of assets around the world are not things that any of us control. Neither can we control Government policy. In truth there is very little that we can control, but when it comes to investing, it may as well be a secret, or so it seems.

YOUR BEHAVIOUR

I am not going to suggest that your feelings are things you can control, they are real and need to be acknowledged. However, they are not the basis for a good investment experience. When it comes to your portfolio, none of us are naturally programmed for optimal performance. So, whilst we note our feelings, we do not base our plans around them. We base our plans on the goals you have set and the basic, easy to say, hard to do, investment principles.

ASSUMPTIONS

As every “crash” happens, investors invariably tell themselves the same thing… “this time its different”. The truth is that unless you genuinely believe that capitalism, globally is dead, then nothing is different. Yes, there are things wrong with capitalism, but if its basic premise is to raise money so that companies and organisations can create and meet the needs of real people in different markets, that creates jobs, wealth and share profits and therefore prosperity. If you don’t believe that, then you really should not be investing in anything at all.

I am not pretending that there is not, or will not be some significant difficulties and hardship around the world as a result of the pandemic and crisis of confidence in markets, but it will return, it is a question of when, not if.

BULL and BEAR

This in mind, Vanguard produced a rather helpful chart this morning which I wanted to share with you. This shows the Bull and Bear runs of the FTSE AllShare Index. Note the falls and the durations of the respective “runs”. I have put the pdf of this below. This shows total returns, so includes the income (dividends) from shares. This takes a long-term view, since 1900. So before all of us were alive, through two world wars and unspeakable things that man does to man. Will we ever learn? Here is another opportunity for you as an investor to do so. Do not panic, this will pass.

In the office we have a sculpture by Linda Hoyle of a bull and bear that I commissioned (sounds fancy, but it wasn’t). This is in our reception and is a reminder that both are ever present, battling for the upper hand. There is opportunity in both. You can find Linda’s work here.

Download the pdf: Solomon’s Bull and Bear Markets

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk 
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

THE GLOBAL MARKETS2023-12-01T12:13:20+00:00

YOUR PORTFOLIO

TODAY’S BLOG

YOUR PORTFOLIO

I suspect that you have heard the expression “look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves”. Well, a small win this week in that your investment costs will have reduced for clients using our portfolios. One of the fund management groups that we use (Vanguard) decided to reduce their annual management charges. Its not a massive reduction when taken in the context of a larger portfolio of funds, but every little helps. The reduced charges have been applied already.

We have also been reviewing our ESG portfolios. I was challenged the other day by suggesting that clients be opted into ESG portfolios with the option of opting out rather than being asked if they would like to opt in. I can see some merit in this, but it seems somewhat problematic when you consider that ESG portfolios are generally a little more expensive.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk 
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

YOUR PORTFOLIO2023-12-01T12:17:09+00:00

It’s A Wonderful Life

It’s A Wonderful Life

There’s a picture that hangs in our reception room, it’s a fairly large still from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Most people know the movie and will have seen it at some point. For many people it’s a “feel good” movie and invariably watched at Christmas.

The film touches on various themes, greed, capitalism, social enterprise, family, relationships, honesty, mental health, immigration, vice… a plethora of ideas that could be explored. Arguably, the central idea is really that of ‘what if?” What if George Bailey had never existed? How would the lives of others be different? The central point being that we all (generally) take the importance of our own existence too lightly. We are all unique, we all have something to contribute, a part to play and the lives of others, our communities would be different without any one of us.

 

Naturally, we all (well most) have a sense of humility about quite how significant our impact is, unless you are the type of person that invariably ends up taking credit for the actions of others. There’s a fair bit of that around the world at present, most evidently demonstrated by certain political “leaders”. This of course is nothing new, simply depressingly familiar.

What we fail to clearly explain

One of the greatest difficulties I have within my role as a financial planner is quantifying and explaining the difference we have made to clients by not doing certain things. To put it another way, what we have advised against, altered, prevented, discounted, ruled out – all as part of our normal actions. Our regulator and professional indemnity insurers are still rather more obsessed with what we arranged and did rather than what we didn’t. Regulation is still largely based upon what was “sold” not what was achieved. One investment company (Vanguard) attempted to quantify the impact of fairly routine discipline that a financial planner applies for clients. They calculated that this added about 3% a year to a client’s investment returns. They called this “Adviser Alpha”. They’ve been measuring and doing their sums on this since 2001.

However, for me this still falls way short of the value that we as your financial planner can add. How much value is added by ensuring clients have a Will? Appropriate life assurance? A proper plan? That they don’t run out of money? Being challenged to really express what they want from and for their own lives….and so on.

That thing about honesty..

In the film George Bailey has built personal relationships within his community of customers, so much so that when he experiences great difficulty, largely through no fault of his own, they rally around to support him. In our litigious culture of blame and extraction of money at almost any expense, it seems unlikely that such an incident could occur. Yet if we all pause for a moment to simply reflect on the sort of people we wish to be and to spend time with, isn’t it those who share a sense of honesty, trust and mutual connection?

What if?…

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

It’s A Wonderful Life2023-12-01T12:18:37+00:00
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