InvestNow News – 15th May – Pie Funds – A Message from Mike: Buoyant April
This month Mike looks at how applying historical context can be useful in handling modern-day problems.
Crisis
Applying old wisdom in 2020
In China, the word crisis is a combination of two characters.
One represents danger, the other opportunity.
The English language origin of crisis comes from the Latinized form of the Greek word krisis, meaning “turning point in a disease.” Under either definition, a crisis is a critical time.
Looking at the origin of words is both helpful and insightful when it comes to assessing a situation. When you are looking for understanding or meaning, what better place to start than history. History gives us context. The ancient texts and languages can still teach us much about how to handle modern-day problems. With COVID-19 quite possibly the largest global crisis the world has faced since Fascism, Democracy and Communism locked horns in 1939, what from old wisdom can we apply to investing in May 2020?
If March was about danger and a stock market crash, April heralded in opportunity. Markets around the world rallied like lightning in reverse last month and at Pie we did our best to catch the favourable lift. This translated into the best month on record for most of our products, including a return of over 20% for Growth 2. But where does this leave us now? After all, isn’t this the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression? The bounce has left many investors scratching their heads as to how and why the rally occurred in the first place.