How investor responses impact currency in times of extreme volatility

Crises that affect world markets tend to hit with little warning and major impacts, leaving everyone from traders and investors rushing to find ways to limit their losses while the catastrophe unfolds.

The various crises we have seen in the last 50 years have happened for many different reasons, but the reaction to them has been much the same. Investors look to limit exposure to equities – which are shares in companies, so called because you get ‘equity’ in a company when you buy shares and move towards bonds and cash while the crisis plays out.

Sheltering money in ‘safe haven’ currencies is a next step, with the US dollar, Swiss franc and the Japanese yen typically appreciating during difficult times for global markets. These currencies are considered safe havens because they are highly liquid and tend to appreciate in times of crisis. The US dollar particularly is the currency that many business deals worldwide are conducted in, which also makes it appealing in a crisis.

Why move away from equities?

When volatility hits, you might need to take strong, far-reaching, decisive action to have the best chance of limiting the damage to your investment portfolio, and/or your business.

Equities tend to be hit first when there is a crisis – during the COVID-19 pandemic for example, travel companies were particularly badly hit. EasyJet and Carnival both fell out of the FTSE 100 as they lost 45% and 67% respectively of their value, which meant they no longer qualified to be one of the UK’s top 100 companies.

When a crisis hits, investors want to mitigate their losses, so look for better short-term investments.

During the COVID-19 crisis, a number of companies decided to cut or completely stop their dividends to shareholders. This matters – it is the main way investors make money from shares. Even stalwart payers have acted, such as Royal Dutch Shell which is cutting its dividend for the first time since WWII. In total, around a third of companies in Britain’s FTSE 100 scrapped their dividend altogether.

Investors move to bonds – but not as we know it

Traditionally, the move away from riskier stocks and shares would be towards safer government bonds which are backed by the country’s taxpayer – that is still happening. Yet in the current crisis, yields are considerably lower than ‘normal’. However, one area that is seeing considerable growth is social bonds as investors can get higher returns while also helping communities during the crisis.

What does this mean for businesses trading overseas?

The flight to safety – which includes putting money into cash, safe haven currencies and bonds – is the result of investors looking to move out of assets that will fluctuate violently or currencies that will be negatively impacted by a crisis. As safe haven currencies are known to appreciate during difficult economic times, businesses trading in one of the safe haven currencies will need to bear this in mind. A transfer to one of these currencies could cost them more during a crisis. This is where planning ahead and building a currency strategy can help to minimise costs and increase profits.

Briars Foreign Exchange

Briars have partnered with OFX to provide a fast, effective and low-cost currency solution to our clients and their employees.

You can use this service yourself, or Briars can combine it with our banking and payment service for a fully managed solution.

Your bank’s charges are often hidden in the exchange rates that they give you and should not be confused with their flat charges. We offer a free comparison of their charges and ours.

Benefits…

• An online system that you can access from anywhere at anytime
• An average saving of 3% on the value of your transfers.
• Swifter service, reducing transfer times by days

To take advantage of your preferred rate and VIP service through the Briars Group contact info@briarsgroup.com.