Fed’s announcement will fuel stocks – but there’s a warning for investors

By George Prior

The Fed’s landmark monetary policy statement will trigger investors to pile further into equities – but beware of the lack of balance in the markets, warns the boss of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organizations.

The warning from Nigel Green, the CEO and founder of deVere Group, which has more than $12bn under advisement, comes after the U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell set out a major policy shift at the central bank’s annual summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Mr Green says: “The Fed chief has just outlined a highly-anticipated shake-up of the monetary policy of the world’s de facto central bank.

“The Fed will keep interest rates at almost zero for the foreseeable future, possibly for more than five years, and it will take a more casual approach toward inflation, even championing a modest rise above their 2% target.”

He continues: “This will add fuel to global equities which are already on fire, having hit a record high on Wednesday.

“In this climate, holding bonds and sitting on cash will simply not provide the returns investors seek.

“Against this backdrop, many more will pile further into equities, which appear to be on a winning streak. But investors must beware of the lack of balance in the stock markets.

“A failure to recognise how unevenly distributed the gains are could prove to be a costly mistake.

“Not all stocks represent the same opportunities as others.  Investors must bear this imbalance in mind.

“Indeed, the equities boom is driven by a handful of companies, mainly in Big Tech, which are accounting for a significant and disproportionate level of the capitalisation of stock indexes, including the benchmark S&P500 index.”

Therefore, buying an exchange-traded fund, or ETF, which are investment funds traded on stock exchanges, could, says the deVere CEO, expose investors unnecessarily.

Nigel Green concludes: “The Fed’s announcement could provide investors with lucrative rewards – but in these unusual times, serious and joined-up planning is required to take full advantage of the opportunities. Working with an experienced fund manager will best-position them to capitalize on these and also to mitigate potential risks of uneven markets.”

About:

deVere Group is one of the world’s largest independent advisors of specialist global financial solutions to international, local mass affluent, and high-net-worth clients.  It has a network of more than 70 offices across the world, over 80,000 clients and $12bn under advisement.