Impact of the Coronavirus

As usual, I have waited for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation to trend before issuing this article.

The virus has created health, travel and financial concerns. I found the article excerpt from *Mark DeCambre provides an interesting historical perspective on the financial impact of past worldwide health issues.

“Historically, however, Wall Street’s reaction to such epidemics and fast-moving diseases is often short-lived.

“According to Dow Jones Market Data, the S&P 500 posted a gain of 14.59% after the first occurrence of SARS back in 2002-03, based on the end of month performance for the index in April, 2003. About 12 months after that point, the broad-market benchmark was up 20.76% (see attached table):”

A tweet to this article reminded readers that, to date, just over 3,000 deaths have been reported worldwide from the coronavirus compared to approximately 80,000 flu-related deaths in 2018 in the U.S. alone.

I present this article not to marginalize the concerns on this virus, it is serious and currently having a significant impact on worldwide events. However, it is not the first virus the world has faced nor will it likely be the last.

Your funds have fared well due to their conservative portfolios. At the time of writing, Balanced Funds are between 1-2% points lower and our Preferred Equity Funds 3-4% lower from the start of the year (January 1, 2020).

Just a reminder that your Balanced and Equity Funds returned between 10-12% and 18-21% respectively in 2019.

Please feel free to contact me at 1.800.665.7707 to discuss your portfolio or other financial matters.

~ John Shelling CGA, CPA, CFP