How have client reactions differed around the world?
With the Asian markets moving beyond the virus, or moving through it sooner, the activity level of clients there has been much greater. Because our Asian clients are more opportunistic, they trade more often, and now they do so from home, and are really focusing more on the markets. The contact between bankers and investment counselors and clients has gone up more than 40% in Asia.
That might be indicative of what will happen in Europe and the U.S. over the next two to four months. People will slow down, have more opportunities to think about what’s happening in the markets and talk to their advisers more.
What are you talking with family offices about?
A lot of our clients are entrepreneurs and own businesses, so a lot of them are busy implementing the CDC programs. We had a family office call on March 9 where we talked about best practices, and shared how we were managing our business at Citi. Clients are dealing with practicalities -- they’re managing their businesses and getting them ready.
From a personal safety perspective, some families are taking precautions around where to be, and so on. Our client base tends to skew older, so there is more than the average amount of concern about the kids of these clients, but also how to deal with older people who could potentially be exposed to the virus.
What’s your basic investment advice right now?
I give the same advice to wealthy families as I do to my Dad. They have to have discipline in the face of uncertainty, keep core portfolios intact and be ready to buy in distressed parts of the market.
They have to understand, though, that they can’t time the market. We’ve done a good job there with clients -- we have not seen a lot of redemptions. We saw a lot of people buying into the market, particularly Asian clients, investing in things that seem unusually cheap.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.