1) Where are the investment markets at? How is everything tracking?
We will start with the major themes for the quarter. As was the case for the previous quarter, the major theme of the June quarter was no surprise, COVID 19.
In contrast to the punishment investors took in the March quarter, the June quarter provided quite some relief. But for the real estate sector we have seen market rallies that partially counted some of these steep falls we experienced in the March quarter.
The easing of the COVID-19 lockdowns saw the Australian dollar strengthen providing a premium for the international shares part of the portfolio that is hedged to negate the impact of currency movements.
In addition, low rates on cash and bonds means some investors are forced to take additional risk and cling on to any shred of good economic news in order to hold stocks.
Now not all sectors have been adversely hit by COVID, with technology and healthcare businesses doing very well and energy and financials being the hardest hit.
For those investors in the sustainability trusts having a very low exposure to those energy stocks with high carbon emissions has served them well with better than market returns.
I don’t think it is a surprise to anyone that especially during the isolation lock down period those technology stocks that provided or that provide in-home services such as Netflix, Amazon, Zoom and even locally After Pay performed particularly well.
2) How should I remind calm during such market uncertainty?
When things are uncertain as they have been for the last six months, that’s when it’s most important to be sticking to your plan.
For peace of mind it’s really important that you are speaking to your Capital Partners adviser and refreshing yourself on what your plan is so that we can reassure you, and so that you can ask questions to get them off your mind.
