Given the stock market outlook, should I withdraw from StashAway for now? Or adjust my portfolio? My portfolio is in General Investing now. Any advice?

Hi anon,

This is the nature of investments. They will move up and down with the market. What is more important is to understand that when you invest, regardless of whether through Robo or an advisor or on your own, there will be times that your portfolio is under, and times when your portfolio is above water.

Just because you handed your funds over to someone to manage, does not mean you will not lose a single cent.

Thus I would advise you to understand your own appetite for risk, your preference and your needs. Then see if a Robo like Stashaway is what you are looking for, after understading the risks and the cons involved. Most people look at the pros and forget about the cons. I'd prefer to look at the cons first and see if I can still live with it, then I will examine the pros.

The key question is: why are you looking to withdraw?

If you're in need of immediate cash and this is a ready source of liquidity, then sure go ahead. However, if you're just initiating a possible withdrawal in fear of markets, then the next question to ask is if you're comfortable with the level of risk you're taking.

StashAway's General Investing Core portfolios range from SRI 6.5%-22% (depending on which you chose), which means that your portfolio is likely (99% chance) to have a maximum loss of 6.5-22% based on backtested and projected returns.

If you believe in their methodology, and you are able to stomach this maximum loss, then you should remain invested and continue with monthly contributions. If not, you may want to revise your portfolio to one with lower SRI so it's more tolerable, or to stay off markets altogether since you cannot accept losses.

Don't panic and make an informed decision. Remember why you chose to invest in the portfolio to begin with, and assess if things have changed since. Hope this helps.