After what has been a frustrating week or so for many people, with Christmas plans thrown into disarray, I have paused to reflect and to get a little bit of perspective on events during 2020.
I thought back to what it must have been like to have lived for nearly 6 years through the second world war, with lives turned upside down and inside out and the fear of what may be; a time when you had to carry a gas mask over your shoulder and not a facemask in your pocket, a time when a trip to the shops was very different indeed. I have come to the conclusion that, apart from the frustration with some of the decision-making and of course the emotional and financial hardship which many are enduring (and not forgetting the loss of some of our loved ones), we still haven’t come close to the time between 1939-45 and for that we must surely be grateful.
An end to this chapter is in sight and thank goodness for the vaccines arriving when they have!
Moving on to investment matters, whilst you may have noticed that UK shares have enjoyed a good run during recent weeks, as they recover from the falls of earlier this year, we are still not quite back to where we were at the start of the year, but within other investment asset sectors things do seem to have not only recovered, but there has also been some growth to add to people’s investments. I firmly believe that, in the event of a good outcome with Brexit, economies can be allowed to recover through 2021 and it may prove to be very beneficial to investment markets as a whole. In the meantime, I will keep everything crossed for the vaccines to do their work and also for the government to do theirs on our behalf with Brexit.
I would like to wish you all a good, if not slightly different Christmas and hope that you and your families and loved ones all get through this testing year and into a better 2021. Thank you for your support and your kind comments recently and let’s all be there for each other in 2021!!