Wednesday, 23 November 2022 13:21

Sterling advice on managing rising inflation

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The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) notes a consistent increase in the monthly point-to-point inflation rate as of October 2022, which now stands at 9.9 per cent. 

Though the COVID-19 pandemic wanes globally, Jamaicans face an unrelenting rise in commodity and service costs.

According to Sterling Asset Management, intelligent investing is the way through these choppy financial waters. The investment firm shared this tip and others during its third quarterly business mingle on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

Savvy investors attended the after-dusk corporate soiree at ATL Automotive’s Audi Showroom in New Kingston under the theme: "How to Navigate Investing for the Future".

Ably led by Charles Ross, President and CEO, the top brass of the 21-year-old Sterling Asset Management Limited informed clients of the great returns possible over the short to medium-term. 

Ross said Sterling Asset Management caters to a “discerning, knowledgeable niche market that demands excellent service and intelligent investing”.

Dwayne Neil, Sterling’s Assistant Vice-President (AVP) - Personal Financial Planning, shared the first of three investment tips focused on short-term bonds and other short-term assets.  

According to Neil, "short" investments afford investors the agility and adaptability to react to changes in economic conditions. In the current inflationary environment, short-dated, high-quality bonds will enable investors to preserve their spending power and ensure consumption levels are not eroded over time by inflation. 

For her part, Christine Rankine, Manager - Personal Finance Planning at Sterling Asset Management, suggested portfolio diversification as a tool to weather the "inflation storm". 

Rankine remarked that portfolio diversification is often understated but critical in today’s financial environment.

 “Once you set your financial goals, we at Sterling come in. We do the research for you. Our traders use a wide variety of tools to track investments. This is something we take pride in. We provide predictability and growth,” she explained.

To close the discussion, Anna-Joy Tibby, joint- AVP of Personal Financial Planning at Sterling Asset Management, through the equation: market volatility = opportunity, explained wild fluctuations in the market, which could be juxtaposed with the present-day, are the ideal occasions to strategise. 

“If you understand that volatility is the rule, not the exception, prolonged dips and swings in the market can actually work to your advantage,” Tibby noted. 

Speaking to existing clients and prospects, Tibby petitioned investors to better capitalise on these volatility opportunities by keeping their investments short and liquid, which Sterling Asset offers through its short-term US$ Repurchase Agreements and US$ Certificates of Participation. 

On the other hand, for the more risk-averse investor, Sterling Asset Management has a new Capital Markets Unit, providing structured notes that carry limited price volatility, if any.