Dear Valued Client,
As part of our ongoing service at Aloni & Goh Portfolio Managers, we’d like to take this time to update you in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and volatility in the stock markets.
We are living in unprecedented times with business and governments scrambling to deal with a pandemic that continues to spread quickly. While nobody can ensure when the pandemic will stop spreading, being proactive and educating ourselves should lessen the stress on our daily lives and essential services. Please ensure that you and your loved ones are safe and have taken the necessary and recommended precautions to self-isolate and distance yourself to stem the spread of the virus. Do not panic.
Our team consisting of Ron Aloni, Alan Goh and Jason Chen are doing our absolute best in guiding your portfolios through this crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, as of Monday, March 16, 2020, has now reached the lows of December 2018. Few, if any, saw this crash coming.
Our portfolios have a diversified asset mix, consisting of high-quality corporations, which we believe should be able to withstand the economic and business impacts of the virus outbreak, while underweighting oil and gas companies, which may be negatively impacted by the ongoing Saudi Arabia-Russia price war. We have reduced our equity exposure and increased our cash position since the last few months of 2019, weathering the storm better than the stock market indices. We understand the gut punch you feel when the values of your portfolios drop during this time, but we are also well-positioned in the long run to take advantage of an eventual market rebound.
Our short-term view is that the stock markets will continue to remain volatile until the growth in the number of cases start declining. Entire regions of Europe have been shut down and/or quarantined, while the U.S. and Canada have only recently taken the appropriate measures. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we are already seeing this in Asia: the cases in South Korea are now growing at less than 1% per day, China’s industrial sector is now back up and running, Japan’s case count is still below 1,000, and Taiwan has become the gold standard in containment and treatment.
We continue to be fully operational at Aloni & Goh Portfolio Managers. Our offices remain open but we have been advised by health officials and our building manager to only allow access for employees, which means we are postponing in-office meetings until further notice. Our monthly Strategy Notes newsletters will continue to be published. The next issue, in which we will provide further updates, will be published at the end of the month.
Ron, Alan and Jason are also set up to work remotely and we can be easily reached via the usual methods. We will get through these tough times and remain vigilant and disciplined in maintaining our portfolios and the long-term goals of our clients, one day at a time.
Please feel free to contact us any time if you have any questions or concerns.
Ron Aloni: raloni@leedejonesgable.com / 604 658 3056
Alan Goh: agoh@leedejonesgable.com / 604 658 3066
Jason Chen: jchen@leedejonesgable.com / 604 658 3043
Aloni & Goh Portfolio Managers: alonigohpm.com
As always, if you have any questions or wish to discuss whether any of the mentioned investments are suitable for you, please do not hesitate to call us at 604-658-3043 or email.
Best Regards,
Ron Aloni / Alan Goh / Jason Chen
This commentary is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell our products or services nor is it intended as investment and/or financial advice on any subject matter and is provided for your information only. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The views contained herein do not necessarily constitute the views of Leede Jones Gable Inc. Leede Jones Gable Inc. is licensed as an investment dealer in every Canadian Province and Territory and is a member of the IIROC and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.
