As the world digests the unexpected outcome that few would have predicted at the start of the campaign, Financial Planning professionals have been giving their reaction to Financial Planning Today.
Read their reactions below:
Former IFP President Marlene Outrim MScEcon, CFPTM Chartered FCSI, Managing Director of Uniq:
I think it is too soon to predict how the effect of the Trump win will impact on our clients’ investments and how Planners should react. Certainly it is the time for sitting tight and not making knee jerk reactions.
Donald Trump's win as the President elect of the United States is unprecedented, and his campaign has affected people both angrily and excitedly in extreme and equal measure. How he will perform as a President and whether he will fulfil some of the promises/threats he made during his campaign are yet to be seen. Initially, the markets have acted negatively but that was seen with Brexit it as well, and since then the markets have taken a turn for the better.
However, how that will all pan out in the long term is yet to be seen, but certainly we are in for uncertain times.
Alastair Rush, DipFA MIFS Independent Financial Adviser and founder of fiveraday.co.uk:
Trump’s acceptance speech was unusually conciliatory, and seemed to be a call to arms to America, to rebuild. Domestically, I think it'll be good for American markets. But uncertainty over defence, trade and environmental pacts with international partners will result in more volatility and uncertainty.
Overall though, we've been here so often of late, I wonder if markets won't react with quite as much volatility as we may once have thought. Maybe we have already priced much of the movement in.
What will I tell my clients? "Your investments were good last week, and they're good this week. Hold on to your hat, here we go again, but remember. We have been here before, many times".
I think many clients are far more cognisant and accepting of political events creating volatility these days. So, no big changes in proposition.
Chartered Financial Planner Martin Bamford CFPTM Chartered MCSI FPFS, Managing Director, Informed Choice:
Despite calling a Trump victory last week, we remain committed to our investment philosophy which is all about the long-term. Investors should resist the temptation to make knee-jerk reactions in the short-term to events such as this.
This doesn’t feel at all like Brexit to me, from the perspective of UK investors.
Those drawing comparisons between the two are making a political point rather than any sensible market commentary. So far this morning, market reaction to the news has been fairly benign, despite the outcome being in contrast to pollster, bookie and mainstream media expectations. As Financial Planners, we can add a great deal of value by coaching our clients through times like this and helping them stay invested.
A Trump presidency, with all of the checks and measures afforded by the US political system, could be a good thing for US and global growth. Only time will tell and no Financial Planner has a crystal ball in this respect.
What investors should be doing now is ensuring their investment portfolios are suitably aligned to their long-term financial planning goals and that they remain suitable for their risk tolerance and capacity.
Chartered Financial Planner Gemma Siddle FPFS, APP, CFPTM, Director of Client Services at Eldon Financial Planning:
We don’t see last night’s results as having a major impact on Financial Planning.
Market fluctuations are a normal part of investment and we do not believe anyone can consistently time markets correctly. We advocate a ‘buy and hold for the long term’ approach and we educate our clients to accept market volatility in the pursuit of longer term growth. All our clients have sufficient cash so that they can afford to ride out market fluctuations without having their lifestyles affected.
As a result of this we don’t expect any client enquiries as a direct result of market volatility. We had very few regarding Brexit and not one of our clients considered selling as a result of the volatility in the immediate aftermath – given the above, why would they?
Joanna Hague, CFPTM, Chartered MCSI, Paraplanner and Chartered Financial Planner at Investment for Life:
While the results last night do feel surprising today, in a year when the UK had already surprised me with our referendum decision, I always knew there was a chance that America may do the same.
Despite the changes that the US may be facing over the next few years, our Financial Planning process remains the same.
Those with money invested should only do so if they have the capacity to withstand the volatility – and we don’t recommend anyone invests money that may be needed in the short term.
Our clients have faith in the process we are following, so they rarely contact us when something like this happens. We do still get calls - but they are about other concerns like State Pension top ups, Pension Scheme administration and reducing interest rates. It’s business as usual here.