Peter Warnes had just finished his presentation on Thursday at the 2022 Morningstar Investment Conference and an attendee turned to me and said, “I need to find something strong to put into my coffee.” Pretty much summed it up.

Peter, our Head of Equity Research in Australia, painted a grim picture. Global recession, further falls in the share market and a lengthy struggle to contain inflation.

In the next session Dr. Shane Oliver, an economist at AMP Capital, saw a much rosier scenario and thought an end to interest rate hikes was approaching. Peter and Shane did have one thing in common. Both showed long-term charts of the share market which showed the timing of bull markets and the timing of bear markets. The vast majority of the time we’ve been in a bull market. Something worth remembering as volatility continues.  

It has been a busy week and I’m off to present at the Equity Mates Finfest on Saturday morning so I will keep this brief. I don’t know if my presentation is going to wow the crowd as I plan to focus on what makes a good investor instead of just listing shares that will go “to the moon.”

But I also have more faith in investors these days. We constantly hear references to individual investors as the “dumb money” on Wall Street. Whoever is making these references is not meeting the investors I talk to at conferences. They aren’t meeting the investors that correspond with me over email. The people I meet are doing their best to try and build a better future. They are doing this while juggling their jobs and family responsibilities. And they are doing this while facing a barrage of products being marketed to them. This isn’t easy and we need to acknowledge that.

If you are feeling lost or overwhelmed, please know this is natural. Keep moving forward because each day you stay invested is one day closer to achieving your goal.