Laura Garcia
02/26/2020 - 12:18
- Clarín.com
- Economy
- Economy
"In these moments of financial stress when everyone is lost, it is too late in the rebalancing of the portfolio." Mariano Sardans, CEO of FDI Fund Manager, deposits the investor into reality quickly. "Everyone makes emotional decisions , from the most novice to the ultra sophisticated, and leaves assets at the auction price. The learning is that you always have to continually review the portfolio and you need an advisor who has to work preventively," he completes.
The last days of disruption in prices in large exchanges following fear of the coronavirus gives us the opportunity to restrain impulsive decisions and rethink what is not working in our portfolio or with what "defenses" we could reinforce.
"The ideal portfolio depends on the general assets of the person and there has to be a very high liquidity position, " continues Sardans. "This is for two reasons: take advantage of situations like this in which opportunities arise and deal with emergencies. In general, it allows stabilizing the portfolio in general."
" These are moments to ask if one was well advised , if the portfolio was well armed, because many fall in love with an asset, which is something you see very often when you take a client. It is necessary to understand if an action is foolishly expensive or inflated," share
And he adds: "Hopefully this is nothing more than an adjustment and not a general panic but it could be just beginning when it comes to becoming aware of the economic brake that it will involve. You have to be with your seat belt on and tight and maintain positions as long as, of course, prices are rational, they make sense. "
Ramiro Marra, director of Bull Market and author of "Let's talk about twine" , puts the situation in perspective but from the point of view of everything that is happening at the local level . "It is a time of great confusion. People do not understand the restructuring well. Things were not clear, orderly. The investor gets dizzy and needs the advisor to translate the news. In addition, everything happens at high speed and in short periods. This has overshadowed the international issue, "he acknowledges.
"The local price has to be rearranged. The holidays affected the portfolio and you are late. There are previous defensive strategies, alternatives to cover you, from buying assets related to gold or Cedear or investing in laboratories such as Pfizer or 3M, the company that makes the utensils against the virus, but always the best defense is to have a well diversified portfolio , "he recalls.
"Nobody wins in a context like this people. Play in favor that people had two days to digest it. But you have to be clear: if you sell because it comes down, you run behind the market. Sometimes the best strategy is to stay still . But the adrenaline makes everyone want to make decisions. You have to allow time to consolidate information, "he summarizes.
Alejandro Bianchi, founder of asesordeinversiones.com , also proposes to take a step back to see the whole panorama but from another point of view: " This fall occurs from historical maximums of the indexes , which are more than 100% above the floor of the crisis, so the coup is not so great, in our countries the falls are always amplified but I think that for now, the recoil is circumstantial, at the time the SARS generated volatility but it was momentary, you can sell, the market reaches a new high before of the elections in the US and you missed it. "
"But the big problem that emerges or becomes evident at the moment is the badly armed portfolio," Bianchi insists. "That is why it is so important when you do the investor test clearly establish the expectation, the time horizon and the moment of life in which the person is. It is very common that there is a dissociation between the desire and the viable . In turn in the assembly of the portfolio it is important that there are not very large positions in a few roles because that makes the portfolio very vulnerable, "he explains.
"A person who lacks for example 20 years for retirement can have a high exposure to equities because he has the capacity to recover. They are usually the most anxious, they want to get rich already. If you have many years ahead and you are clear your saving capacity , with a horizon of more than five years you can say I enter now at a better value ", graph.
José Bano, financial advisory manager at InvertirOnline.com , notes an issue where other colleagues have already stopped. "What you should do is manage before these moments of panic. You have to think of a portfolio that suits what you need and always have some kind of shelter, some alternatives, which are for example gold or some assets that are typically shelters of value when everything falls like the Japanese yen Another point is to take into account that it is a balanced portfolio according to your profile, you should have already considered what losses you could accept and based on that, have been regulating the risk of your portfolio "he details.
" The financial advisor is fundamental at the moment, he is the guy who knows what needs to be done, " he says. "Many times the client complains because everything goes up and he doesn't have so many earnings because there are assets like gold in the portfolio but it is these days that the results are seen and how it helps to cushion the decline."
And he gives another example: "The role of the advisor also has to do with some strategies that people normally do not use or know as much as for example the options. You may have made protective puts, which are derivatives that serve to ensure a sale price, it’s like having insurance. It’s something you’re buying all the time to secure a floor to your wallet and you are lowering performance because you’re paying but at the moment you keep the value of your portfolio ”
Of course, once the loss occurred, if there were no defensive strategies, there is still a primary function for the advisor. "Our role is to help you stay calm, help the client control himself , it makes no sense to panic or run. And if you didn't do things as neat as you should have done, just help him."
Santiago Abdala, Director of Portfolio Personal Inversiones (PPI) , is another that brings the convulsed local situation to the debate. "From April, May 2018, Argentine investors became more conservative. Because of the tax benefits they maintained the Argentine bonds but there the risk quota was already covered to add risk abroad. There are also those who tell you my risk is to live in Argentina , what I invest in international assets, I don't want a high risk component, "he admits.
" The task of the advisor is to adjust the expectations of the clients to the market conditions . Like when they arrive and they tell you 'I don't want to take a risk but give me something' and that something is not realistic. Today we must be aware that the indices are at maximum levels and the rates are very low. In addition, the truth is that the attention is very much taken by the local restructuring. I think that the potential consequences of the coronavirus are not finished. It is seen as a more remote risk ", warn.
About the audacity to enter the market right now, he has his objections. "The conservative investor, if he has shares, is like a bet in the medium to long term. Only if there is a very speculative portion of the portfolio would he say that it may be time to enter but there is a saying that ensures that it is better not to try to catch a knife while falls . "
