This has been another momentous year but, although the pandemic is still with us, we are pleased to say that 2021 has been far more positive than 2020, certainly for the team here at Proposito.

Looking back at the last 12 months, we’ve reflected on four achievements which have made 2021 stand out.

First, as retirement specialists, we wanted to use video as a way to help explain our retirement planning process, and how we help people to achieve their best retirement journey.

So, with the help of a filmmaker, we created an animated video and we are really pleased with the result. If you haven’t seen this, then you can find this on our YouTube channel here.

We are also producing a regular series of videos called 4 at 4Forty4, each covering a different topic and with four things that we would like to share. A new one is out at 4.44pm on the fourth Friday of each month. You can find all our videos on our website at www.proposito.co.uk or on YouTube.

Second, we moved back into our Cirencester office so we could once again work together as a team. Although Sarah has since re-located to Devon and mostly works from home.

Our third achievement was our Step Challenge, to raise money for The Churn Project. We aimed to collectively complete 202,021 steps in 20 days during August – and we smashed through the target!

Last but by no means least Jade passed her financial planning exams, achieving her Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. We are very proud of her achievement and look forward to watching her progress in her career as a financial planner.

Coronavirus and Refine Meetings

Despite the continuing challenges throughout 2021, it’s been mostly business as usual for Proposito. We are very grateful for how understanding you have been as we adapted to remote working and virtual meetings.

Given the new variant and the uncertainty surrounding Coronavirus, we will continue with video calls (our preferred option) or telephone meetings for the foreseeable future. We feel that this is in the interest of safety for both you and us.

You can of course still contact us by phone, email and Filehaven between 9AM – 4PM, Monday to Friday, and we aim to respond as quickly as possible.

Market Update

The Coronavirus pandemic saw the biggest slump in the markets since the financial crisis in 2008. The market low occurred on 23 March 2020 but our globally diversified, low-cost portfolios recovered steadily throughout 2020, finishing the year over 3% up (not something covered in the media – good news doesn’t sell).

During 2021 the recovery has continued. The stocks and shares part of our portfolios is currently up 20.51% on where it was on 1st January 2021 (and 74.64% higher than the bottom of the Covid crash on 23rd March 2020).

The uncertainties around Coronavirus, particularly with the news of different variants, means that there will likely be some short-term fluctuations in the market. Our approach remains unchanged – keep planned expenditure in cash, invest to beat inflation and sit tight whilst the markets are bouncing around.

Remember that the stock market rewards the patient and punishes everyone else.