Time to cash up?

Financial planner Peter Hensley has decided things are so bad in the markets it's time to cash up his clients for a while.

Thursday, September 26th 2002, 11:16PM

by Jenny Ruth

Financial planner Peter Hensley of New Plymouth-based The Money People has persuaded most of his clients to cash in all their investments, particularly equities.

"We have recommended that clients adopt a defensive investment strategy in acknowledgment of the risks present in the current marketplace," Hensley says.

"Some of them have chosen to stay in (their investments), but 95% have said that’s fine." That happened a couple of months ago, he says.

Hensley says most advisers keep a close eye on what’s happening in world markets. "There was an extra level of risk that was building up in the markets," he says.

The major US indicies have hit multi-year lows this week, the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a four-year low and the tech-heavy Nasdaq a six year low.

While the New Zealand market has been relatively resilient, by late Thursday it was still 3% below where it began this year.

But that doesn’t mean Hensley has abandoned the philosophy of a diversified investment portfolio. "We just want to restructure portfolios and to remove the short-term risks," he says.

He envisages having his clients siting in cash for about six months.

"I don’t think I’m the only one doing it – I know I’m not the only one doing it," he says.

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