The comments from Nigel Green, the chief executive and founder of deVere Group, come as consensus grows that a temporary world recession is imminent and as governments and central banks scramble to try and limit the impact.
Green said: “Any way you look at it, it’s now almost certain that there will be a coronavirus-triggered recession as both global supply and demand are impacted.
He added that we can expect this recession to be deep but short: “The slowdown will be temporary because it’s not caused by deep-rooted problems and imbalances in the economy, rather by a wholly unexpected shock that’s gripped the world.”
However, he added a note of optimism by pointing toward possible opportunities.
“We’re moving towards an era of negative interest rates,” Green said. “Zero or negative rates will help boost financial asset prices and savvy investors will be seeking to top-up their portfolios by drip-feeding new money into the market at this time. They will give more investors more reason to increase their exposure to equities as the money won’t be working for them as cash deposits.”
Green went on to say that the coronavirus outbreak can be expected to speed up the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is fuelled by technologies such as artificial intelligence and mobile supercomputing.
“New industries will emerge and, of course, there will be winners and losers,” he said. “This will mean job losses in some sectors and huge, possibly unprecedented, job and investment opportunities in others.
“Enforced social distancing will highlight how families, friends and colleagues can interact, remain connected and work, how businesses can still efficiently operate, and how investors can manage assets via advancing digital infrastructures.”
The deVere CEO concluded: “The disruption and shifts will underscore that we live in a time of great capabilities and great promise.
“But to build and protect their wealth as the world adapts to a new era, investors should be revising their portfolios to mitigate risk and take advantage of the opportunities.”