Most of us went to bed last night reasonably confident that the country had voted to stay in the European Union. The reality, a few short hours later, is a victory for the Leave campaign and an uncertain future. However, one thing is certain, we can expect to see a huge volatility in the stock market over the course of today, into next week, and possibly for a prolonged period of time. You will naturally be concerned about the effect of the referendum on your pensions and investments and your long term financial future. It is almost certain that the UK stock markets will see large falls in value today and these may well be mirrored in other parts of the world. If this is the case, now is the time to remain calm, take a deep breath and remember some key investment fundamentals:
- Stock market investments are by their very nature long term, volatility is to be expected and from time to time large falls will occur
- Investors should remember that they are in general rewarded for sitting tight and riding out falls in the stock market
- You are investing to help meet long-term objectives, unless these have changed over the past few days, making immediate changes to your investments based on the referendum result is unlikely to make sense
- Selling investments, immediately following a fall in value, crystallises the loss
- Remember, in all likelihood you are invested in a diversified portfolio which will includes other types of investments, often called asset classes, and not just shares
Of course, we recognise that some of the headlines today will be worrying, and we are here to help.
If you would like to discuss your investments, please get in touch.