How has the coronavirus affected your day-to-day work?
From a portfolio perspective, clearly it has been crazy. Very volatile markets have obviously led to increased activity. From a workplace perspective, however, things are fine. I had to buy a new computer as just working off an iPad was not enough.
What has been your biggest contributor to performance since the coronavirus hit markets? What has been your biggest detractor?
Our absolute return funds held up in the sell-off, with TwentyFour Absolute Return Credit and Janus Henderson UK Absolute Return doing well. The main detractor has been property investment trusts moving to huge discounts.
Do you have any behavioural mechanisms in place for navigating the market volatility?
We have been topping up in the funds and trusts that have fallen the most. It is not easy to make the right decisions when under stress – but having a good team helps!
What has surprised you most about markets during the coronavirus sell-off?
Having been through several bear markets, I suppose nothing surprises me. The speed of the fall has been severe and, as usual in times of great stress in markets, people panic-sell and everything correlates.
What feedback have you had from clients since the coronavirus sell-off?
Client feedback has been good, with hardly any redemptions from our funds. On our D2C platform, some clients have switched or moved partially to cash – but not in big amounts.
How do you find working remotely during volatile markets?
I have never had to work from home for more than the odd day before, so this is all pretty new to me. We still have our investment meeting every day but now it is done over the phone rather than face-to-face.
But it is still early days – let’s see how it feels after 50 …
What do you do for fun when you take a break from working at home?
I have a 10-year-old and a 12-year old – they keep me busy when I’m not at my desk.
Darius McDermott is managing director of Chelsea Financial Services
