An update on market volatility and coronavirus
10 March 2020
In December 2019, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Although the main impact of the virus has been in China, the virus has now spread to other countries in Asia, Europe and now Australia.
While there is a great deal of uncertainty as to the extent of the impact of the virus, we remain focused on our members and their retirement savings.
Your retirement savings
While the news of coronavirus did not have an initial impact on investment markets, more recently, the outbreaks in Europe have unsteadied share markets across the globe including the Australian share market.
At LGS, our highly-experienced investment team is monitoring markets closely. And while we continue to see volatility in share markets, our portfolios are invested across a diverse range of asset classes including bonds, listed and direct property, private equity and alternatives, so the returns on your superannuation may not be as volatile as the fluctuations seen in share markets.
We expect that there will continue to be short-term market volatility until infections peak and the virus is contained. Yet an exact timeframe for this to happen is difficult to estimate at this stage.
It is important to remember that super is a long-term investment and there will be short-term volatility from time to time as the result of a wide range of factors.
We are monitoring the situation closely
As a superannuation trustee, we have plans in place to minimise disruption during times such as this so we can continue managing your retirement savings and servicing our members’ needs.
More information
We will continue to provide updates as the situation progresses. Here are some useful links to further information: