At first glance, the coronavirus pandemic has made a huge impact on all the industries and it also made a detrimental impact on the global investors on all the stocks and shares. For example, Statista has reported that as many as 28% of Americans were much less likely to invest in stocks through the pandemic, while the overall performance of the standard-bearing S&P 500 index declined by 34% during the same period.
While the pandemic may have affected sentiment and various markets across the globe, this doesn’t mean that there are fewer opportunities available to investors. In fact, there are a number of markets that have risen while others have declined, so those with a rational investment plan have been able to profit despite the surrounding chaos.
What Were the Most Attractive Markets During the Pandemic?
The financial marketplace is full of diverse asset classes and instruments, which tend to respond differently to economic tumult or periods of uncertainty. This is best borne out by the course of stocks during the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, the early period of the crisis saw the value of travel, leisure and hospitality stocks plummet, while those pertaining to medical device suppliers and similar entities soared, creating a short-term opportunity for investors to thrive.
However, investor attitude has shifted since this time, with traders shifting towards a more positive stance on so-called “value stocks” and equities that have previously been hit hard by the pandemic (particularly airlines and hotel chains). These stocks and shares are now competitively priced in relation to the respective size of the companies that they belong to, creating an opportunity for investors to achieve medium and long-term gains as such stocks begin to appreciate once again.
This highlights why there remain significant opportunities in an uncertain economic climate in 2022, as there are always one or more markets that grow at the expense of others.
How to Create a Rational Investment Plan for 2022?
It’s also worth noting that not all stock markets have been created equal. For example, while certain stocks and national currencies tend to depreciate as the economy falters and governments initiate programs of quantitative easing, so-called safe-haven assets like gold and Bitcoin wallets (BTC) tend to see demand and their respective values increase.
It’s important to understand this when planning your investments for 2022 so that you can diversify your portfolio in the most relevant way and factor in the prevailing economic trends across the globe.
This can also account for regional growth, with a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirming that India’s economic growth will peak at an impressive 8.5% through 2022.
In practical terms, we’d also recommend that you liaise with experts as part of the financial planning process.
This enables you to factor in real-time and future market and economic conditions when building your investment portfolio while making it far easier to identify market opportunities and leverage any volatility to your advantage. This includes those that are speculative in nature, with derivatives enabling you to profit in a depreciating market and without assuming ownership of an underlying financial instrument.
