Don't exit your investments after crash

Published Apr 3, 2020

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CAPE TOWN- The Covid-19 global pandemic has brought about economic uncertainty in every country around the world.

Despite recent stock-market crashes, two investment experts show why cashing in your investments after the market has fallen is the worst thing you can do.

Gyongyi King, chief investment officer at Alexander Forbes Investments, and Janina Slawski, head of investment consulting at Alexander Forbes, explain that markets go through cycles.

“Sometimes they’re up, sometimes they’re down and, on occasion, their fluctuations can be drastic. It is during these drastic bouts of market volatility that even the most experienced investors can become anxious," King and Slawski say.

This is not the time to cash in. King and Slawski

have produced a graph of past stock-market crashes on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that shows how investments "bounce back".

The graph below, shows the performance of the Financial Times Stock Exchange and JSE All Share Index during nine past market crashes.

Red

indicates the fall of the index when the market experienced the crash.

The

orange

,

grey

and

yellow

bars show the “bounce back” of the market into positive territory in the years after the crash. The

orange

bar showing what happened one year after the crash, the

grey

bar showing the situation after three years, and the

yellow

bar showing the growth in the market after five years.

King and Slawski note that you would need a bigger percentage gain than the percentage the market has dropped to break even.

If your investment of R1000 falls in value by 50%, to R500, you will need it to double (an increase of 100%) to get back to R1000. If it falls by 25% (to R750) it will need to rise by 33.3% (R250).

Taking this into consideration, of the nine market crashes shown on the graph, three (‘81/’82 rise in interest rates, ‘76 oil price increases, and ‘71 Opec increase) showed subsequent returns enabling you to at least have made your money back after a year.

However, in all instances, you would have not only recouped your money but earned handsome profits after three years, and, in all but one instance, you would have enjoyed high - and in some cases spectacular - returns after five years.

“The markets can be a scary place at times, but long-term investors shouldn’t panic. The gains experienced over the long term outweigh the losses experienced in the short term.

The historical evidence reminds us that the biggest price swings are rare occurrences that should not exaggerate the risk and uncertainty pinned on the anticipated long-term value of an investment. Remember, investment goals are set with the future in mind. This is why staying invested for the long term is the best answer to an investment strategy that ultimately rewards,” King and Slawski say.

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