Our current situation has not only changed our lifestyle, but it has also had a great impact on our investments, whether we are a business or an individual.

If you are one of those people who let their money quietly grow and pay little attention to it, lucky you.  Because the recent drastic drop in the financial market would probably have made you fall off your chair.

In an article in the Portail de l’assurance: “The first quarter has shown the highest volatility since the 2008 financial crisis”, said Albert Ngo, senior portfolio manager of Empire Life Investments. “Although the magnitude of the current market drop was not as great as during the last crisis, its pace is almost twice as fast”, notes Mr. Ngo in a blog posted on April 15, 2020. 

Fortunately, and to everyone’s great relief, everything seems to want to quickly return to normal. What we should retain from our current circumstances is that “there have always been market fluctuations, and there always will be” as Dany Provost of SFL Expertise points out.

When investing in a retirement plan, you have to look at it over the long term and, above all, do nothing that would put your entire portfolio at risk.  Especially when markets are going through a crisis because they always end up recovering over the long term.  The key is to be patient.

If this is too stressful for you, it’s probably because you aren’t in the right investment profile. Speak with your financial planner to help you understand your investments.

Jackie Beaudoin, Leclerc Insurance and Financial Services
Sources:  Article published in the Portail de l’assurance (April, 2020), article published in the SFL Expertise blog, March 9, 2020.