COVID-Crash special with Sam Sicilia and Martin Thompson

The ASX200 has collapsed by more than 20% in just three weeks since COVID-19 went global. When markets fall so far and fast, it induces a state of panic for many investors. In this episode of The Rules of Investing, I sit down with two very special guests to get their take on the current situation, and to hear what may lay ahead.

The first is Sam Sicilia, Chief Investment Officer of Hostplus. With more than $50 billion of funds under management and one million members, Hostplus is one of Australia's largest superannuation funds. Under Sam's guidance, Hostplus has become the top-performing super fund in Australia over 10 years, according to Superguide.

Also joining us is Marty Thompson, Senior Consultant at Frontier Advisors. After studying science in his undergraduate degree, Marty undertook PhDs in Molecular Cell Biology and cancer research. He's also worked as a research scientist and teacher in virology at Murdoch University. Since starting his Masters of Applied Finance, Marty has worked as a Commercialisation Analyst at Melbourne University, and an Investment Analyst at Starfish Ventures, a leading venture capital firm focused on biotech startups.

In the first part of the episode, we discuss the disease itself, including what we know and don't know, and how the spread of the disease could play out from here. We then turn to discuss the effects that the disease and associated disruptions could have on the real economy. Finally, we discuss the effects on financial markets and individual investors.

"If you have discretionary cash, it's earning zero in a bank account. At the end of the day, unless you need it for a more immediate purpose, the better thing to do is to invest it. Whether it's through a super fund or not, invest it in markets and just do the time.

What's important is that market timing is a loser's game. If you learn to time the market - in and out of it whenever you hear news - unlearning that behaviour is incredibly difficult. Eventually, your luck will run out and you'll hand it all back to markets. Don't play the market timing game." - Sam Sicilia