The Impact of March 2020 on Your Portfolio

Stocks have fallen approximately 25% since the start of the year. Does this mean my retirement plans and other financial goals are in ruins?

The current bear market is unique. The global coronavirus pandemic has brought large segments of the world economy to a halt. Some economists are forecasting a 25% decline of the U.S. GDP (annualized) for the second quarter.

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions regarding our services during this public health crisis.

We wanted to reach out to you and hopefully be able to share a little peace of mind.  We hope this communication finds you well and able to feel secure in the steps you are taking to protect yourself and your loved ones.

PWL invests in fixed income markets with high-quality bond ETFs and/or mutual funds for our clients’ portfolios. The bond ETFs and mutual funds generally act as a counterweight to the greater risk of equity investments.

During this public health crisis, PWL has put a number of measures in place to ensure the health and safety of you, our clients, our employees and our partners. We are focused on social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

In our second special release episode during the 2020 COVID-19 bear market we discussed a broad history of US bear markets from 1900 to 2020, the recent volatility in the bond market, bond ETF NAV spreads, a nuance in the legislation on tax-loss harvesting, and some of the tax-related changes that Canada has rolled out in light of the current situation.

The sudden ratcheting up of the coronavirus crisis has made for an anxious couple of weeks on every front—health, family, work and finances—and there’s more uncertainty to come.

Stock prices reflect investors’ expectations about future profits and risk. When those expectations change, as they do frequently, prices change, and they can change dramatically. Volatile stock prices do not mean that the market is broken or that the world is ending; sharp price declines are expected from time to time in an efficient stock market, and their inevitability should be built into every investment plan.

In the opening sentence to his book on Asset Management, published in 2014, Professor Andrew Ang said: “The two most important words in investing are bad times”