Hedge the incoming recession
Hedge the incoming recession
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Discussion

jimmybell

Original Poster:

692 posts

146 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
I recently discovered, and then promptly lost/forgot the name, of a fund that specifically aims to provide a hedge against a crash/global recession. I *believe* the guy that started it had some past performance from 07/08 to earn some kudos.

Wondering if anyone knows of any like this, and has any comment on them?

In the last quarter i've heard from multiple people, who i'd consider well placed to at least have an opinion, say current predictions are that a recession is considered likely inside two years, so i'm wondering if there's some sort of hedge i could make against that. Obviously they could be completely wrong.

I also secretly like the idea of someone betting against the system and being proved right, Big Short style.

thekingisdead

317 posts

162 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
"Economists have correctly predicted 9 of the last 5 recessions"

Market timing is notoriously difficult / impossible. Terry Smith (best fund manager of the last 10 years?) say's its impossible.

YMMV

Terminator X

20,623 posts

233 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
Not possible, pure luck if someone / a business gets it right.

TX.

walm

10,644 posts

231 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
I have been trying to do this for the last few years and 1. failed and 2. missed out on the last major upward move in the market.

However, for what it is worth, I went to cash and bought a bunch of gold.
Not for everything.
But from a say 80-20 equities vs low risk - I am now closer to 50-50.

So that offers some downside PROTECTION but obviously not much profit from any market decline.
To do that you could probably just short the MSCI World Index / FTSE / STOXX / S&P / Dow etc... via ETFs if you can find someone to sell them to you.
Normally they aren't SIPP or ISA friendly though.

However, the above posters are correct. Timing the market is a nightmare. I am a solid case in point!

anonymous-user

83 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
In next 5 years , unless you expect record breaking returns, returns from equities are probably going to be relatively low.

So in a sense, holding / betting on equities NOT reverting to the mean, is an active bet in itself?

JulianPH

10,084 posts

143 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
I agree with everything posted above.

A well balanced portfolio that you hold throughout different market cycles is a good bet.

Equally, defensive consumer stocks can work well in both bull and bear markets (or at least have done historically).

Also, not looking at your valuations every day probably helps! smile

DonkeyApple

69,894 posts

198 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
I’m in a business that offers hedging services and I would generally suggest that for an investor there is little real upside.

I believe that the real ‘hedge’ is to not enter a recession with excessive debts or being particularly cash poor. Generally, long term investments are designed to chug along through the economic upswing and downs. Nothing wrong with checking those investments and ensuring they are appropriate but my general consideration is that if your investment portfolio inspires you to buy hedges then that should be more of an inspiration to check the overall structure of that portfolio.

jimmybell

Original Poster:

692 posts

146 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
Can't really argue with any of the above, i'll see if i can find the thing i was referring to for some fun scrutiny. A quick google returned Horseman, but it wasn't that guy.

I guess, if predictions are right - you'd just do now what you would of told yourself to do before 2007. Cash and Gold is king, buy when the streets are bloody..

Though i imagine there are some things that do well when the world is in decline you could gamble on... cheap food stores, booze/weed, crypto, cfd long vix if you're feeling really baller.


NickCQ

5,392 posts

125 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
The 2007 thought experiment is a good one, but I think where you make your money is on what you buy post crash rather than what you hold going in (as long as you haven’t already blown yourself up).

If I had another go I would be aggressively looking for fundamentally strong assets at distressed prices (like the good ABS paper that got dragged down by the subprime crap)

anonymous-user

83 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
May The Fourth Be With You. Oh, that was last week.

As JulianPH has said, a robust approach is an investment strategy which can sustain a certain amount of downturn. As some will remember, when the excrement meets the air conditioning you suddenly find you can't get though to your broker or the internet's overloaded.

To put it another way, once you see trouble coming it will be too late to do anything about it.

overunder12g

432 posts

115 months

Friday 10th May 2019
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Any detail about this incoming recession?

bogie

17,079 posts

301 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
overunder12g said:
Any detail about this incoming recession?
Yeah im wondering when its due now ? are they usually on schedule ? its been over 10 years now.....



rufusgti

2,573 posts

221 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
bogie said:
overunder12g said:
Any detail about this incoming recession?
Yeah im wondering when its due now ? are they usually on schedule ? its been over 10 years now.....
Three will turn up now, in a minute.

NRS

26,310 posts

230 months

Friday 10th May 2019
quotequote all
September the 16th this year. Probably when US markets open.

Tony-K

2,219 posts

89 months

Saturday 11th May 2019
quotequote all
rockin said:
May The Fourth Be With You. Oh, that was last week.

As JulianPH has said, a robust approach is an investment strategy which can sustain a certain amount of downturn. As some will remember, when the excrement meets the air conditioning you suddenly find you can't get though to your broker or the internet's overloaded.

To put it another way, once you see trouble coming it will be too late to do anything about it.
There’s a good argument that you ought not do anything about it anyway. Taking your money in and out of asset classes based on market movements or sentiment doesn’t seem to have any better outcomes than sticking with your allocation.

Derek Chevalier

4,659 posts

202 months

Saturday 11th May 2019
quotequote all
thekingisdead said:
Terry Smith (best fund manager of the last 10 years?)
On what basis?

Derek Chevalier

4,659 posts

202 months

Saturday 11th May 2019
quotequote all
NickCQ said:
If I had another go I would be aggressively looking for fundamentally strong assets at distressed prices (like the good ABS paper that got dragged down by the subprime crap)
How would a punter access this?

Derek Chevalier

4,659 posts

202 months

Saturday 11th May 2019
quotequote all
Tony-K said:
rockin said:
May The Fourth Be With You. Oh, that was last week.

As JulianPH has said, a robust approach is an investment strategy which can sustain a certain amount of downturn. As some will remember, when the excrement meets the air conditioning you suddenly find you can't get though to your broker or the internet's overloaded.

To put it another way, once you see trouble coming it will be too late to do anything about it.
There’s a good argument that you ought not do anything about it anyway. Taking your money in and out of asset classes based on market movements or sentiment doesn’t seem to have any better outcomes than sticking with your allocation.
Agreed, there is no evidence to suggest that active allocation adds value.

Derek Chevalier

4,659 posts

202 months

Saturday 11th May 2019
quotequote all
Tony-K said:
rockin said:
May The Fourth Be With You. Oh, that was last week.

As JulianPH has said, a robust approach is an investment strategy which can sustain a certain amount of downturn. As some will remember, when the excrement meets the air conditioning you suddenly find you can't get though to your broker or the internet's overloaded.

To put it another way, once you see trouble coming it will be too late to do anything about it.
There’s a good argument that you ought not do anything about it anyway. Taking your money in and out of asset classes based on market movements or sentiment doesn’t seem to have any better outcomes than sticking with your allocation.
Agreed, there is no evidence to suggest that active allocation adds value.

anonymous-user

83 months

Saturday 11th May 2019
quotequote all
When is this recession happening as I don't see much sign of it. Lots of doom and gloom stories in the media but people still seem to be out there spending money like it is going out of fashion.

Recent visit to a Mercedes dealer to test drive an A class and there was nobody free to talk to me that whole afternoon. They took my details and promised someone would call back, but two weeks on and still no call.