KiwiSaver in Uncertain Times – Insights from ANZ Experts

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IF YOU ARE FEELING NERVOUS, YOU ARE NOT ALONE

If market declines make you nervous, you are not alone, according to Trisha Edmonds, ANZ New Zealand’s Head of Advisory Distribution Funds.

“All of us feel like that. These feelings of uncertainty are certainly being fuelled by Covid-19,” she says.

Neville Giles agrees, saying it is completely normal for people to be nervous during a market decline like the one we saw in March 2020.

“It’s human nature to be nervous when you are faced with an uncertain situation. I’ve been in this industry for coming up 20 years and I was checking my KiwiSaver balance every day even though I know it’s a long term investment. So it’s normal to be nervous, it’s natural,” he says.

FOCUS ON LONG TERM GOALS

Investors should try to ignore the day-to-day headlines and focus on their long-term investment goals, according to Trisha Edmonds and Neville Giles.

“This is the time where investors must find the courage and the conviction to stick to long-term plans” says Trisha Edmonds.

“It’s time, not timing, that matters in investing. Taking your money out of the market on the way down means that if you don’t get back in at exactly the right time you can’t capture the full benefit of any recovery.”

She tells the webinar she’d heard of a number of people making decisions based on their emotions or after talking to family, friends or colleagues. When it comes to investing, she says this might not be wise.

“It’s our belief that people, particularly KiwiSaver members, need to focus on the long term. KiwiSaver is a long term proposition and people are already making progress towards their goals, if they belong to KiwiSaver. If they remain focused, they are many times better equipped to look past the noise and stick to their plan,” she says.

Edmonds says although we don’t know what the long term recovery is going to look like, history shows us recoveries normally follow economic downturns.

VOLATILE TIMES

The market fall in March took place extraordinarily quickly, according to Neville Giles.

“A bear market is defined as when the market falls by 20 percent from its all-time highs. That happened in nine days, which is the fastest ever. That just gives you an idea of the scale of how quickly the market fell and why people were so nervous.”

But he explains the March 2020 fall was followed by a rally that was also extraordinary; with both the US and New Zealand share markets reaching new highs by August.

“The problem really is that there's a lot of uncertainty. So the market falls and then the market rises, and people don’t really have a handle on how the economy is going to recover.”

“It’s normal to be nervous, it’s natural, I do it myself, but focus on the long term, think about your long term objectives; and KiwiSaver is there for the long term.

This information is provided by ANZ New Zealand Investments Limited (ANZ). This information is general in nature and is not to be construed as advice.  Investors should seek professional advice.  To the extent permitted by law, ANZ does not accept any responsibility or liability arising from your use of this information.  Investment performance is not guaranteed and may be negative or positive.