Every day seems to see new headlines describing global economic turmoil – not least from across the Atlantic. Now there’s news that a quarter of UK investors have sold at a loss in the past year. Have they acted in haste… or do they know something others don’t?

With the markets around the word yo-yoing, and some stocks showing huge falls and gains in just a few weeks depending on the latest statement from the White House, it would be easy to buy (or sell) at a strategically disadvantageous point.

In fact, new research from Alliance-Witan shows that, within the last year, a quarter (24%) of investors have sold an investment at a loss. One in ten investors has sold at a loss in the past six months and more than a third admitted they sold due to fears that performance would worsen.

So were these investors right to cut their losses… or should they stick to the adage of “investing for the long term”?

Close examination of the motivations of individuals to sell their investments (and when) shows that it’s often a more complicated situation than simply responding to the mood of the moment.Alliance-Witan’s research shows that investors who had sold at a loss did so predominantly because of a fear that the investment performance would fall further (36%).

However, expediency also played a part, with 29% saying they needed the money for an emergency and 20% needing it for a particular life event or major purchase.

What exactly persuaded them to sell at that particular point in time? Some 25% of the investors who responded simply felt it was the right decision at that time… with more than one in ten (11%) saying they based their decision on advice given to them by a friend or relative.

So what do the “experts” say?

Mark Atkinson Senior Director, Client Management at WTW, comments: “Selling an investment at a lower value than it was bought can sometimes be unavoidable, but knee-jerk decisions based on short-term market volatility can backfire on returns.

“With so much uncertainty within the markets today, with tariffs and increased costs impacting organisations across the globe, it’s natural that an investor may be spooked.

“However, our previous study ‘Profit from Patience’ showed that investors that stayed invested throughout periods of uncertainty would have experienced higher returns over a long-time horizon than those that made reactive decisions.”

Keeping on track of your investments…

Investments can go down as well as up, in the long as well as the short term, but you can make sure that your retirement plans remain resilient by regularly checking in on your RetireEasy LifePlan and updating it if necessary.

That will ensure that you remain on target for the retirement income you are planning… and can give yourself time to make any necessary adjustments if needed.