Earlier this year asset manager Standard Life Aberdeen renamed itself abrdn. This is a very silly name for many reasons: not having vowels is silly; not having a capital letter is silly (particularly at the beginning of sentences). But there is good news: the company is not as silly as it sounds (which is why I sit on the board of an investment trust it manages). It has a new advertising campaign on the go, and it’s pretty good.
Instead of the vague inanities you get with most financial advertising (which suggest it all has something to do with teeth whitening and holidays) the firm has actually had a go at explaining what investing is – the financing of the companies that actually do the stuff that keep the economy going. “When you invest in this”, says the TV ad, over video of a construction site, “you invest in this”, over video of happy people at a football match. The same trick is used for scientific research (you see labs, then a child with a prosthetic limb) and hospital equipment. The radio ad takes a similar tack. The idea, says abrdn, is to reframe investment as “an ability – the power to change, not just your future but lots of futures, for the better”.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? It is. Over the last decade, capitalism has taken a bit of a bashing: more than 60% of UK Millennials think they would like to live in a socialist society; we think they probably wouldn’t. We also think that if they understood that they mostly own shares (via pension auto-enrolment) and that their ownership gives them power, they might change their minds. After all, while socialism promises everyone ownership and power, it has never actually delivered; shareholder capitalism is delivering. There’s a hill to climb to before that is fully grasped in the UK – a recent survey found only 35% of adults know that their pension contributions go into shares – but campaigns such as this will surely help.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
That said, there is one problem with the campaign. It suggests that investing is a type of soft, fluffy and mostly-green do-goodery (“...when your investments do good things so can you”) that mostly goes right. That isn’t necessarily so. Investing can also mean capital losses, miserable retirement and failed technologies. And to be properly diversified (and more certain of getting the returns you need) you might find you have to put your money into things that are morally more complicated than prosthetic limbs for children. Right now many markets are expensive, and nearly all are fragile – see page 6 for the various breakdowns and recoveries caused by the Omicron variant in even the four days since its apparent discovery.
Recent history suggests you should buy every dip. Long-term history says that given valuations and obviously non-transient inflation you should buy only very carefully. What counts as careful? Take oil. There is no bit in the abrdn ad pointing out that when you invest in petrocarbons you also invest, for example, in the sulphur that makes much of the fertiliser that helps maintain global food security. But you do. Lithium mines may not feel fluffy either – but we need it and there’s a supply and demand mismatch that makes the sector look attractive. You might also look at emerging markets: buying into Turkey, Russia or South Africa might not feel comfortable right now, and certainly doesn’t come with a soothing voiceover, but there is often good reason to buy what others shun.
-
Which investments can I hold in a stocks and shares ISA – and which ones are banned?HMRC has a list stating which investments are allowed in ISAs, but sometimes investors, and even ISA providers, get confused by the rules. Here’s what you need to know when picking your investments.
-
Review: Andronis Minois and Andronis Arcadia – two Greek island idyllsTravel Andronis Minois on Paros and Andronis Arcadia on Santorini are two beautiful, authentic hotels on two different islands in Greece
-
'Rachel Reeves' plan to force pension funds into UK assets won't work'Opinion Hustling pension fund cash into British assets sounds like a good idea. It would be better to make Britain an attractive place to invest, says Matthew Lynn
-
Supersonic travel: How China could 'leapfrog' US and Europe's commercial aviation industryOpinion Innovation in commercial aviation has been stuck for 60 years. A commercial supersonic jet might be back on the market soon, but will China get there first?
-
How British businesses can tackle Trump's tariffsThe majority of British businesses are likely to take a hit from the chaos caused by Trump’s tariffs to reorder global trade. Companies in the firing line face some difficult decisions, says David Prosser
-
Trump wants to colonise Mars – will it happen?Donald Trump wants to plant the US flag on Mars. Could humans really live there?
-
Why are energy bills so expensive in the UK?Electricity bills in the UK are higher than in any comparable rich country. Some blame the net-zero zealotry of the government for that. What is really to blame for high energy bills?
-
Will Putin invade Europe? Why investors know Russia is a paper tigerOpinion Markets are right to ignore talk of Putin invading Europe, says Max King.
-
Why French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for officeMarine Le Pen, presidential candidate and leader of France's right-wing National Rally party, has been barred from standing by the country's judges.
-
Five years on: what did Covid cost us?We’re still counting the costs of the global coronavirus pandemic – and governments’ responses. What did we learn?
