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How to prosper in a post-pandemic world

As we slowly get back to a new normal, we look at the opportunity for investors willing to change with the times.

Important notes

This article isn’t personal advice. If you’re not sure whether an investment is right for you please seek advice. If you choose to invest the value of your investment will rise and fall, so you could get back less than you put in.

Matthew Taylor
Research Editor

Published on 18 November 2021

This article is more than 6 months old

It was correct at the time of publishing. Our views and any references to tax, investment and pension rules may have changed since then.

In the summer issue of the Investment Times, I wrote about how two views make a market.

The issue focused on how having a different view doesn't mean you're right or wrong. The important thing is to make sure you don't sway to one side too much. Uphold the basic investing principle of holding lots of different investments for as long as you can, and you won't go far wrong.

While the investment principle of holding a diversified portfolio for the long term isn't going to go out of date anytime soon, the investment world is ever changing. And when the investment world changes, it's important to make sure you change with the times too. The pandemic has made this truer than ever before.

While we're making good progress in recovering from the pandemic hangover, it's unlikely to be all clear skies ahead. Inflation fears are mounting, energy markets have been stumbling and governments around the world are starting to look at how to claw back the piles of debt they've had to accumulate.

However, if you look past the pandemic, it's been fairly steady seas for stock markets for over a decade. It's worth reminding ourselves that investing does come with ups and downs, as you can see from the table below. Investing isn't an opportunity to make a quick buck – you could lose more than you put in if you're not sensible.

It might not be smooth sailing investing in a post-pandemic world, but as investors, that's what we should expect.

As we slowly get back to a new normal, we see opportunity for investors willing to change with the times. Don't wait for hindsight to tell us it was a no-brainer. Those willing to stick it out and evolve will likely be rewarded.

So how do we change with the times?

We don't have to look very far to help make investing in the future that little bit easier. It can pay to look back to the past, take note of what's happening today and take some of these lessons into the future.

HL celebrated its 40th birthday this year. In the autumn issue of the Investment Times, we've taken the opportunity to look back at how things have changed, how investing has evolved, what the future could hold, and how investors could prosper.

You'll find the issue full of investment ideas to take advantage of in a post-pandemic world. Remember there are lots more ideas on our website. The table below shows how sectors and different parts of the world come in and out of fashion at different times. Holding something of everything, with small tweaks to the areas you're most confident in is a sensible approach to growing your wealth over the long term.

Everyone's goals and circumstances are also different and investing isn't a one size fits all approach.

Remember, past performance isn't a guide to the future. All investments rise and fall in value, so you could get back less than you invest.

Annual performance across the major sectors (%)

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Average fund performance across the major sectors, for 2011 to 2016

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2011-12		2012-13		2013-14		2014-15		2015-16
North America	20.15	Japan	32.58	North America	15.87	UK Government Bonds	7.96	Global Emerging Markets	38.54
Global High Yield Bonds	18.75	Europe (ex UK)	26.85	Global	7.90	Japan	3.94	Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	37.71
UK All Companies	17.41	UK All Companies	22.48	Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	6.71	Europe (ex UK)	3.58	Japan	32.61
Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	15.61	North America	20.58	UK Corporate Bonds	6.38	North America	3.24	North America	31.87
Europe (ex UK)	14.45	Global	18.99	UK All Companies	5.84	UK Corporate Bonds	2.66	Global	27.21
Global	12.98	Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	7.46	UK Government Bonds	5.45	Global Corporate Bonds	2.23	Europe (ex UK)	18.58
Global Emerging Markets	12.60	Global High Yield Bonds	6.47	Global Corporate Bonds	5.07	UK All Companies	1.68	Global Government Bonds	17.03
UK Corporate Bonds	12.25	UK Corporate Bonds	2.45	Global High Yield Bonds	4.68	Global Government Bonds	1.14	Global Corporate Bonds	16.39
UK Government Bonds	8.09	Global Emerging Markets	0.97	Europe (ex UK)	4.13	Global	-0.08	UK Government Bonds	15.51
Global Government Bonds	3.65	Global Corporate Bonds	-0.32	Global Emerging Markets	3.23	Global High Yield Bonds	-3.53	UK Corporate Bonds	12.05
Japan	-5.25	Global Government Bonds	-3.08	Global Government Bonds	2.10	Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	-7.30	UK All Companies	11.98
Global Corporate Bonds	N/A*	UK Government Bonds	-4.21	Japan	-0.46	Global Emerging Markets	-14.24	Global High Yield Bonds	11.77

Past performance isn't a guide to the future. Source: Lipper IM, from 30/09/11 to 30/09/21, IA sector performance. *Full year performance data not available.

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Average fund performance across the major sectors, for 2016 to 2021

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2016-17		2017-18		2018-19		2019-20		2020-21
Europe (ex UK)	22.09	North America	19.51	UK Government Bonds	13.63	North America	9.02	UK All Companies	32.49
Global Emerging Markets	17.84	Japan	12.14	Global Government Bonds	11.47	Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	7.59	North America	26.81
Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	15.44	Global	11.80	UK Corporate Bonds	9.04	Global	7.38	Global	23.79
Global	15.01	UK All Companies	5.63	Global Corporate Bonds	8.60	UK Corporate Bonds	4.20	Europe (ex UK)	22.39
North America	14.77	Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	4.04	Global Emerging Markets	7.30	UK Government Bonds	4.07	Global Emerging Markets	18.57
UK All Companies	13.84	Europe (ex UK)	1.81	North America	7.22	Japan	3.84	Japan	17.47
Japan	13.78	Global High Yield Bonds	0.86	Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	6.09	Global Corporate Bonds	3.82	Asia Pacific (ex Japan)	15.32
Global High Yield Bonds	6.77	UK Government Bonds	0.63	Global High Yield Bonds	6.05	Europe (ex UK)	3.48	Global High Yield Bonds	7.90
Global Corporate Bonds	1.87	UK Corporate Bonds	0.13	Global	5.88	Global Emerging Markets	2.05	Global Corporate Bonds	2.12
UK Corporate Bonds	0.57	Global Government Bonds	-0.56	Europe (ex UK)	1.96	Global Government Bonds	1.57	UK Corporate Bonds	1.30
Global Government Bonds	-2.28	Global Emerging Markets	-0.76	UK All Companies	0.08	Global High Yield Bonds	-0.16	Global Government Bonds	-4.52
UK Government Bonds	-5.73	Global Corporate Bonds	-0.95	Japan	-1.18	UK All Companies	-13.13	UK Government Bonds	-7.23

Past performance isn't a guide to the future. Source: Lipper IM, from 30/09/11 to 30/09/21, IA sector performance. *Full year performance data not available.

Explore our Investment Times autumn 2021 edition for more articles like this.

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