Investing in uncertain times and diversifying

seacaitch

Unless duly qualified or professionally connected to the subject "someone" is not an individual that you should be unduly influenced by and you should certainly not allow their comments to put you in a state of panic.

I am all for people managing their own investment portfolios, but perhaps the greatest risk of doing so is acting hastily when stressful market conditions arise. For some people, this might be 5% down, while for others it might take a market 85% down.

This is the one key area that an adviser, acting in the role of a coach, can help people avoid behaving reactively or emotionally, in a manner that proves to be an expensive mistake.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6663198/investing-in-uncertain-times-and-diversifying

What do others invest in during times like this?

I would* invest in the same stuff you've just sold.

But I'm me and you are you. Our circumstances are different. It sounds like you need to think about lower risk investing which you feel more comfortable with, and wouldn't mean bad news or necessity caused you made hasty decisions.

*In reality though I've not invested more, the recent dip hasn't been deep enough to make my preferred funds look undervalued by enough to change my current strategy of holding back.

aroominyork

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954110#Comment_81954110

Broad commodities. Been reading monevator about UC15?

luci

Our S&S ISAs are through an IFA, as they helped us sort out our pensions, etc. I may be naive, but I never look at them between our annual review meeting. Despite some market slumps, such as the start of the Ukraine war, we have always made gains.

Every year, we have to reassess and advise them what our risk profile is. I went for a higher risk portfolio than the OH at the beginning, and mine are worth a lot more than his.

Hattie627

FTSE100 well up today. We live in volatile times but we always have. Best to ride out the storms.

vacheron

What do others invest in during times like this?

Exactly what I always have.

Unless you are getting guaranteed information before announcements from someone who is capable of moving world markets (which is illegal, but nobody seems to care any more). Then you will probably have missed the boat like everyone else, in which case the last thing to do is panic.

The only thing I have sold in the last 2 months was about £4K of shares that were still outside of tax sheltered wrappers, but this was purely to use up my CGT allowance before April 6th.

I sold for £21.65. Today they are £22.90, but if I had had to pay 18% CGT they would have needed to have risen to about £27.00 to break even.

One good bit of advice I heard was:

If an investment you own moves substantially, ignore all that has gone before and ask yourself "If you had never owned this investment before, would you still have been happy to buy it at the current price."

If the answer is yes, keep them. If the answer is no, sell.

Worried_fool

Other people are different. You are you, with your own attitude to risk, and currently looking for a new role.

You might face a prolonged period of unemployment, and so might need to draw down your savings to maintain your lifestyle. Perhaps you will need to invest in further training, or finance a house move if you are offered a position far away from home. So you were obviously invested inappropriately, and the decision to sell was the right one FOR YOU at this time, although it is not what I would have done.

Personally, I am investing for ten years or more in the future, and so current events will not be relevant, except that the recent fear meant that I could buy some stocks at a bargain price.

chiang_mai

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954400#Comment_81954400

I just updated all my numbers, volatility and risk is increasing quite markedly, across the board, even in the cautious funds that I hold. I was planning to increase my holdings by a couple of percentage points but after looking at the numbers, decided now is not the best time, for me that is. Others may look at things and decide the opposite.

age 76, live outside UK

london21

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954228#Comment_81954228

Yeah did go with some profit but crazy how Trump is doing things, a lot of uncertainty.

london21

Now wish i did not listen to him and sell. Now need to decide if to keep my cash in the account or invest back into

Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund

He is a trader and I am not confortable with indivitual stocks for now as he did say US tech stocks are overvalued and results out soon and with AI. He mentioned putting some money in venture capital $50k which is also too high risk for me as a lot of companies fail but the ones that do make it get good returns.