April 30, 2021
Shard Capital’s article titled “Gen Z’s road to recovery” is in the Raconteur “Trading Strategies” report, published in The Times.
Partner at Shard Capital, Mike Hollings, writes about the bleak financial future that generation Z have, but explains how they can bounce back with the right support and advice.
“Due to a combination of extreme and short-sighted actions by many governments and central banks across the world, spanning 30 years, Generation Z have been left with severely restricted prospects in the years ahead.
Priced out of an exorbitant housing market, and with scarce job opportunities and mounting debt, any potential returns on their savings have also been decimated by low to zero per cent interest rates.
In stark contrast to the previous three generations, who have enjoyed an annual return of between 5.7 and 6.4 per cent on a traditional 70:30 split between equity and bond investments, according to Credit Suisse, Gen Z are forecast to only be able to generate 2 per cent annualised returns with a similar 70:30 equity- bond split.
It would appear that while the rich have got richer, those at the other end of the scale will now struggle to get anywhere.
So how have we arrived at this desperate situation, where the next generation has effectively had the debts accumulated by previous generations placed firmly on their shoulders? And, more importantly, what can they do to protect and grow the few assets they are able to accumulate?”