We've seen this before

March 10, 2020 | Adam Bosak


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This isn’t to alarm anyone, but to remind you why you hired me.

This isn’t to alarm anyone, but to remind you why you hired me. Well, it looks like we are in for another interesting time in the markets. Notwithstanding the fact that the markets ended a little positive last week, things are back in disarray again today. We last saw this in the fourth quarter of 2018. December 2018 was the worst month of December on record since 1931. Then we had a fantastic year in the markets in 2019. After a solid year of positive markets, we are seeing a return of volatility. I am reaching out to remind you to be confident in my process and investment discipline. Many of you have heard me say, things like, “we don’t buy market indexes, so your portfolio doesn’t go down the same as the market pulls back”, “the market goes up 75% of the time”, “The market has 2 pullbacks of over 5% and 1 correction of over 10% on average every year” and my favourite, “It’s time in the markets, not timing the markets”. These principles and more have gotten myself and my clients through the markets since I started investing personally over 20 years ago and started investing for clients over 16 years ago.

We still don’t think this is the beginning of the next recession. Although, I do look forward to eventually coming out of the next recession as it will be shorter and shallower than 2008/09 like most recessions are. Also, it will be a great event that will support what I do for you. My job is easier when the markets are going up, but the true work comes into play when it goes down. It might take days or weeks or even possibly months for this to sort out, but I am on this watching it daily and making changes where changes need to be made. This won’t affect any of your planned cash flow needs. That is why we do the plans and review annually. See the attached article for our 10 principles of successful investing in volatile markets.

The health and safety of clients, family and friends is of the highest priority. From personal experience being able to work from home and being remotely accessible is important during this time. I am able to stay informed and up to date on the current market while having the availability my clients have known to expect.  

These markets create great opportunity for us to buy low. Let’s take advantage of it. I am!