Create the life you want
What a difference two weeks makes! The world is currently working through an unprecedented economic and health crisis that will impact on our ability to lead our normal daily lives for some time.
At Chrysalis we are acutely aware that Coronavirus (COVID-19) is proving to be an escalating challenge not only to the wider financial industry and Governments around the globe but also to each of us personally. That said, COVID-19 will pass as have all pandemics previously and we continue to be committed to supporting you as your financial advice partner throughout this time, being your financial voice of reason through what can be highly emotional times.
Due to Chrysalis’s longevity in the advice industry, we have been fortunate to have had the invaluable experience of having faced and successfully supported clients through several previous financial crises. These have included; the “Dot.com Bubble / Tech Wreck” in 2000, the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) 2007, the “European Sovereign Debt Crisis” of 2010, the “Chinese Market Meltdown of 2015” and most recently the “Global World Stock Market Downturn” in late 2018. This experience has consistently shown us that keeping a level head during these periods is paramount as long term wealth is built on such periods but can also be destroyed during such times depending on whether decisions are being made out of emotion or from a well informed and considered perspective.
We have been closely monitoring the contagion of COVID-19 and have been in regular and constant discussions with our investment specialists including our Investment Committee, Fund Managers and Chief Economists. As predicted, the virus continues to spread at an increasing domestically. We have formulated a plan to ensure the continuity of Chrysalis while we operate under the impact of COVID-19. Our objective is to continue business-as-usual services but also to protect the health and safety of the Chrysalis team and our clients.
To this end, Chrysalis has spent some time over the past year establishing processes, systems and new technology to enable Chrysalis operations not to be confirmed to our head office in Dee Why. This planning was fortuitous as it now affords us the opportunity to enable to Chrysalis team to work remotely from home as needed with little interruption or disruption to our services and to supporting our clients. From today the Chrysalis team will be working remotely. We will continue to monitor and review this situation on an ongoing basis and will inform you of any material changes to this approach when they occur. At this stage we do not know how long the social separation quarantine requirements will be in place, however it is a prudent measure we are encouraging everyone to take at this time.
Actions we have implemented from today:
- The office number will be diverting to staff mobiles (please be a little patient if this causes some delay in access).
- Emails will be responded to as usual. These will be our preferred form of non-urgent communication for now given the ability to respond in a timely manner and easier staff connectivity in providing you a timely and comprehensive response or confirmation of action.
- Review and ad-hoc client meetings will continue as usual however will be conducted by Skype or phone until further notice. We are suspending in-person review meetings for the time being.
- Requested changes to your accounts such as withdrawals, switches, deposits, income drawing and contribution changes should be emailed and will be implemented by our admin team as normal.
How to stay up-to-date
With market and Government responses to COVID-19 rapidly changing, please ensure you regularly connect with our news broadcast page on our website
https://chrysalislp.com.au/industry-news/ and/or our Chrysalis Facebook page
These sites will be our main method of communicating to you updates as and when appropriate. This will include updates in relation to our investment portfolios as and when appropriate.
We want to reinforce the message that Chrysalis continues to be fully operational and we are open for business – new and existing clients. Rest assured that we are here with you through this tough and uncertain time.
Please note that while we do not have any concerns currently with liquidity in the markets, it is reasonable to expect there could be some delay with any withdrawal or deposit requests in the near term. These are unprecedented times we are in, so please be patient. Your investments are in very good hands with your fund managers and they are taking proactive action daily to offset downside pressures and well position you for the inevitable future rebound that will occur. .
In closing we want to acknowledge that some of you may be feeling very concerned about is going to play out in the coming months and about the security of your investments. That is a very reasonable and understandable thought. Please take comfort in our experience in successfully managing through financial crises such as this. Importantly we designed your portfolio to ensure you have substantial diversification of assets across countries, investment markets, asset classes and investment manager styles. The underlying investments are quality assets that have a long-term accumulation of wealth objective. So while several of the investments may have decreased in value over the recent period their longer term value will continue to outperform and provide your investment objectives as planned. A reminder also that whilst values on certain assets may be down over the short term, any income associated with these investments will continue to be paid and will continue to be higher than the current cash rate. Overarching this contagion is that governments globally are fully committed to making sure these assets do not collapse and will do what it takes to protect their economies. We are seeing them taking action around this fact now. Once the markets see the end of this period approaching then all signs point to a very strong recovery due to the actions being taken by governments and the speed at which this contagion could be addressed via a vaccine, successful quarantine processes, etc.
For now, we strongly encourage you not to panic. Now is absolutely not the time to sell or take partial withdrawals for the reasons outlined above. If you are drawing a pension or a regular income from your investment, please consider whether you are able to temporarily able to reduce that amount in order to preserve your capital during this time.
As always we are available to support you as and when needed. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any reason, we are here to help.
We’ll be in touch again soon. In the meantime, a reminder to regularly visit our website and Facebook pages to keep updated.
