As we move through 2012, uncertainty exists over global economic and financial markets.
Which countries’ economies will prosper? Or maybe the better question is, which countries’ economies will not completely crater in 2012? Which equity markets should investors consider? What should I do about all the market volatility?
There are many concerns out there for investors.
Vanguard considers these questions in, “Vanguard’s Long-term Outlook for Stocks and the Economy”. A short article, but one that contains some decent commentary. For example:
Will the U.S. recovery stay on track in 2012?
I think the recent data have been upbeat, which is a testament to the resiliency of the U.S. private sector. That’s why we think the recovery will continue to endure, more likely than not, although there’s no guarantee.
Not carved in stone confidence, but positive about the U.S. economy.
I am less bullish on the U.S. currently.
There is still extreme uncertainty on the upcoming U.S. presidential election. I believe a Romney win will be better for the economy than if Obama is re-elected. That said, while Republicans talk a good game about fiscal responsibility and lowering the U.S. national debt, their actions are not representative of their talk. It took more than Obama and his crew to get the U.S. deficits and debt to where they are today. And Romney is not known as a huge fiscal conservative.
Unless people get real about the level of debt – if for no other reason than the sheer amount of tax revenues that must finance interest payments and not grow the economy – the U.S. will continue to stumble along. And I just do not see that happening anytime soon.
Should investors be worried about high market volatility?
The markets have been volatile, but it’s easy to forget that markets always go through volatile periods.
But I think we’re all more sensitive now after the global financial crisis of a few years ago. This may be hard to believe, but in the last nine years, the U.S. stock market finished in negative territory in only one year, 2008. So it can be helpful to keep the longer-term perspective and remember that the reason we look for higher returns in equities is because the markets are volatile. Over time, investors have been compensated for the risks that they take in stocks. So we try to coach people to expect short-term volatility and to not overreact to it.
Very good point to keep in mind. The level of attention by the public to equity markets is very high. And I think that people remember that bad news more than the good. The media definitely contributes with its “if it bleeds it leads” mentality.
Volatility is risk as measured by the standard deviation of an asset’s returns. The more volatile an investment, the greater the risk. But the greater the risk, the higher the expected return. Investing 101 in a nutshell.
If you wish to achieve higher long-term performance, you need to take on risk (to some degree). That is why younger investors should look at (relatively) riskier asset classes as opposed to older investors. Young investors have a longer time horizon to withstand short and medium term volatility.
What about the sovereign-debt problems here and in Europe?
The fear of contagion has subsided lately, as it looks more likely that Europe will muddle through.
I am much less positive on Europe. They talk, they plan, they make cosmetic changes. But never seem to address the core problems that have created this problem in the first place.
And if you do think Europe is serious about getting their fiscal house in order, I give you the new French President, Francois Hollande. His idea of fiscal responsibility is to lower the retirement age for certain workers from 62 to 60. That should go over well with the Germans (who have a retirement age of 67), Poland (67), Sweden (increasing to 69), Britain (increasing to 66), and even Italy (increasing to 66 for males, 62 for females).
What’s Vanguard’s longer-term outlook for stocks?
But again, we can’t predict what’s going to happen in the next year. So if you’re saving to spend on something a year from now, you shouldn’t be in the stock market. But if you’re saving for a child’s education 15 years from now, or for retirement 20 years from now, what asset class do you think is going to provide the highest rate of return?
Again, this reflects the link between an investor’s time horizon and their investment objectives. The longer the time horizon, the greater the investment risk that can be assumed.
But remember that all investors – even the young- have short and medium term objectives.
Maybe you are 25 and want to retire at age 65. You have a 40 year time horizon for retirement investing. Long term. Assets with higher volatility probably makes sense.
But maybe you want to buy a new car next year and will need $20,000 cash for that purchase. A short term objective. You probably do not want an investment that may swing 50% each year in case it is down over the next year when you need funds to buy that car. Same if you plan on buying a home in 5 years.
You always need to match your investment objectives to your specific investments. And all of you will have short, medium, and longer term objectives and constraints, regardless of age.
With negative headlines and volatility, should investors change their strategy?
To us, that means stepping back and asking yourself what is the best long-term asset mix for your situation. And once you figure that out, maybe with an advisor’s help, then I think you put a plan in place to get to your allocation of stocks and bonds. That’s what’s going to drive your portfolio’s returns.
Then you don’t have to continually second-guess yourself, wondering, for example, if you should sell a bond fund if you think interest rates are going to go up. Even if that happens, your stock portfolio can help to offset the decline in bonds. That’s the advantage of diversification. You have one asset class that can support the other. You keep both because you don’t know which one needs to support the other over the next year or two.
Very good advice. Take a long term approach. Focus on asset allocation and diversification.
I encourage our clients to try to minimize the attention they pay to economic news, because I think that can actually lead to the pitfall of wanting to react. The market can discount economic news very quickly—I mean in a matter of seconds. So, while it’s good to be well-versed on the economy, we have to guard against overreacting to it, because there’s much more to investing and seeking long-term returns than analyzing the latest economic news.
Avoid getting caught up in the flavour of the day. If you have followed the FaceBook public offering you know what I mean. Before the issue, the focus was on how to get shares and be part of the FaceBook phenomena. Now it seems to be, how bad an investment is FaceBook and should (former wonder-boy) Zuckerberg be sued?
market volatility presents an opportunity to be proactive by doing things like rebalancing. That can be a powerful antidote to the volatility, because if stocks or bonds fall, you can rebalance to your target allocation. “Buy and hold”—an approach we endorse—doesn’t mean “set it and forget it.”
Something I strongly believe. Utilize a buy and hold strategy for long run success. But always make sure that you periodically review and rebalance as necessary. Buy and hold does not mean buy and forget.
I would also add that market volatility also allows for discount purchasing. If you utilize dollar cost averaging, volatility aids in buying higher volumes when prices are depressed and relatively less when valuations are running high.
