Forget 2024 market predictions: Stick with a balanced core portfolio

A NEW year is typically the time when analysts and strategists trot out their forecasts for the year. But how actionable are the forecasts, really?

For investors with a long horizon like retirement, forecasts are at best leisure or entertainment reading. At worst, they could spur actions that are downright wrong for your portfolio.

2023 is testament to this: Most strategists and economists got their projections wrong. A recession in the US, for example, was widely expected, which would then weigh on markets. At end-2022, the S&P 500 was forecast to rise by a modest 6 per cent in 2023. Instead, it gained 26 per cent and the Nasdaq even more with a return of 44 per cent.