At our recent client event, we were happy to have an overwhelming response to our 5-question quiz. Within these answers include important tidbits for investors and Singaporeans — How many of these would you have guessed correctly?

For the the first time in nearly 50 years, both stocks and bonds were down by double digits (2022). Over the past few years, from lockdowns to re-openings and adapting to drastic changes in our lifestyles and behaviour. Now we’re in 2023; how’re you doing?

An old joke goes - a statistician is a person who lays with his head in an oven and his feet in a freezer happily proclaiming “On average, I feel comfortable.”

Taking that example into the investment world, averages seldom reflect actual investor experience.

You’ve probably experienced that wave of relief before, when you manage to narrowly avoid a disaster. Now that the market is very choppy, it makes sense to take a step back, assess your investments and perhaps take some extra precautions — after all downturns are only a matter of time.

When it comes to investing, the biggest elephant in the room is the word — “uncertainty.” No one can say for certain what the markets will do nor is there a crystal ball that’ll show you the outcome of any situation. However, we have provided some pointers that can help you keep things in perspective during this “uncertain” period.

We all want to make money from the market, but is there a formula to do so, and to do so quickly?

As massive losses hit the stock market, what should investors do to survive?

In volatile markets, whether investors end up making or losing money depends less on what the market is doing and more on how they react.

Volatile markets can be a time of opportunity rather than devastation.

Like children, markets can be temperamental and change without warning.

Investing is inherently uncertain. As in life, you will never be able to know exactly what will happen, but that should not stop you from investing.

Recent rhetoric between US President Trump and North Korea made many investors jumpy. With the possibility of a localised conflict occurring, what would be the impact on investors?

Do you know how much money your investments could lose? What is VaR and why it is better than the investment industry’s favourite metric - volatility?

The market events of January 2016 provide an opportunity to examine several questions important to investors and revisit some fundamental principles of investing in capital markets.