Harbour Wealth – 20 March 2020 Client Update:
We sent out a note last Friday March 13th with our views and guidance around current markets and investment strategies.
Where do markets stand as of 19 March 2020:
The market turmoil has continued unfortunately, and we now have many global markets down over 25% over various periods – see table. The Corona virus continues to spread with total cases now over the 250,000 mark. Many countries, including South Africa are taking drastic measures to try and contain the spread. Unfortunately, these measures will impact economies and businesses, which is not favorable, particularly for equities, but fixed income is also not immune.
| Index | Month to Date | Year to Date | 1 year |
| JSE Overall | -32.3% | -33.5% | -32.3% |
| SA Listed Property | -50.3% | -51.8% | -55.6% |
| R186 Govt Bond | -29.4% | -25.7% | -18.8% |
| Rand/USD | -15.5% | -23.8% | -19.6% |
| S&P 500 | -25.3% | -25.4% | -14.0% |
| Nasdaq | -21.9% | -20.3% | -6.4% |
| MSCI World Index | -27.7% | -28.2% | 19.1% |
| Brent Crude Oil | -50.4% | -57.5% | -57.3% |
| Gold | -6.6% | -2.2% | 12.9% |
| US 10yr Treasury | 26.3% | 41.7% | 54.5% |
Have we changed any views?
This too shall pass!
It doesn’t feel like it right now – and things may get worse before they get better. However, we will get through this and markets and investments will recover. Markets remain very volatile and investors remain nervous. Our investment strategies are built to look through market cycles and we don’t believe it’s prudent to make drastic changes during such volatile periods – where market prices and fundamental can be massively dislocated. Therefore, we continue to monitor the market and our strategies very closely and will trade where opportunities present themselves.
We will continue to keep you appraised weekly as developments unfold.
Harbour Team