When investors are fretting about their finances, the concern often stems from economic issues, such as inflation or interest rates.
But now there’s a different worry. Almost half (49%) of investors in a Janus Henderson survey are agitated about the 2024 presidential election’s impact on their finances, topping concerns about inflation (35%) and recession risk (29%).
Janus is a London-based money manager with assets of $308 billion. The survey included 1,000 investors with investable assets of at least $250,000.
It’s old investors who are most concerned about the election, the survey said. Almost seven in 10 (69%) of the Silent Generation (ages 75 and up) are very concerned about the election compared to just 37% of Millennials (ages 25 to 40).
Maybe it’s the youngsters who have it right. “Despite investors’ concern about the presidential election, results haven’t historically been a reason to exit the capital markets,” said Matt Sommer, head of specialist consulting at Janus Henderson Investors.
Steady Stock Returns in All Cycles
“In fact, looking back at S&P 500 returns from 1937 through 2022, the average annual return was 9.9% in presidential election years and 12.5% in non-election years.”
It doesn’t seem to matter who’s in charge of the government. With Democrats in control of the presidency and Congress, the S&P 500 gained 11.5% in the calendar year after presidential elections, the survey said.
With Republicans in control of the presidency and Congress, the S&P 500 climbed 16.1%.
Meanwhile, with a Democratic president and the GOP in control of at least one house of Congress, the S&P 500 rose 15.9%. With a Republican president and the Democrats in control of at least one house of Congress, the S&P 500 ascended 9.4%.
So you’re likely to do best just investing based on fundamentals, as always. A safe plan usually involves mostly to all stocks for young investors, with the rest devoted to bonds. And investors generally want to increase their bond weighting as they grow older.
