Cashing out - the ultimate risk-off move? Cashing out - the ultimate risk-off move? Cashing out - the ultimate risk-off move?

Cashing out - the ultimate risk-off move?

Peter Siks

Summary:  The simplest way to reduce your market risk is by being less invested in the market. Going all out, this means that you sell all your holdings for cash. But there are important nuances that you need to be aware of if you consider 'going cash'.


Exposure possibilities

When you buy stocks, bonds or any other financial instrument, you have exposed yourself to market risk. You have probably done this with the goal of being rewarded for this exposure in the form of a return. Below you see a visual representation of different types of exposure you can have to the market. If you are fully invested (all your capital is on the table), you have created maximum exposure. High rewards are possible but there is also significant risk.

In the middle of the graph you will see a blue mark, where your portfolio only consists of cash. Here you have no market risk but needless to say, you won’t have any chance to make money in the markets either. You can read more about the third position, short, here

Reasons to go cash

Over time, markets tend to go up. But there might be times where you feel uncomfortable with how the markets are moving. You might for example feel that the valuations are too high given the economic outlook. This could be a reason to reduce your exposure by selling all or parts of your portfolio.

Another reason to go cash is flexibility. Having cash at hand means that you can act on opportunities that arise along the way. Thirdly, a cash position will enable you to absorb rising margin requirements if you invest in more complex products such as options. Lastly, a decent cash position will increase your level of comfort and confidence generally speaking.

Put another way: the stronger you believe markets will go up, the more you tend to be invested. Following that line of thinking you should decrease your exposure if your conviction declines. 

How to go cash

If you are at a point in time where you think going cash will be the right thing for you to do for a while, let’s look at how you actually do it. The easiest answer is that you can close all your positions, i.e., sell all your financial instruments. That is the most radical solution that would leave you with a cash only position. But there are other means to reach that result.

  1. One way to remove your market risk could be to use the account value shield protection mechanism. Using this you will close all your positions if the value of your account reaches a certain (lower) level. For instance, if you have a portfolio currently worth EUR 44.307 and you want the trigger to sell everything to be EUR 42.500. This means that if your portfolio falls to EUR 42.500 the system will automatically close out and sell your positions. If you have a lower threshold you want to protect your portfolio from falling, this leaves room for a further rise of the markets, which you wouldn’t get if you sold everything. See it as a kind of stop loss under your whole portfolio.

  2. Cut your position in half. This approach leans on the saying: “If you are not sure, halve your positions”. This results in a few things. Firstly, you reduced your exposure to 50%. So, if the markets go down, your loss will also be half. Secondly, if the market goes up, you can still generate a return. Whether you reduce your current positions with 50% or 90% (or 15%), totally depends on your conviction, or worries, about the current market.

  3. Apply tight (trailing) stops to your positions. This leaves the upside intact, but it will protect you from a sharp fall in the markets. A stop loss sell order will be triggered if a lower price level is reached. In case of a trailing stop, the stop level will increase if the market goes up.

As you can see, there are several ways to reduce your market risk – going all cash isn’t the only opportunity. The method you choose depends entirely on your view of the markets. If you are completely convinced that everything will fall, you might opt to sell everything. But if you are not so sure that we are on the edge of very strong market decline, other approaches might suit you better.

Cash in your account

One way or the other, the amount of cash has increased on your account. And that leaves the question of what to do with it. Of course, you can just leave it there. Then you will have no market exposure and you can start investing again once you are convinced that 'the only way is up'. But be aware that inflation is eating away the purchasing power of your cash!

Another possibility is to invest your cash in a money market fund that gives (some) return on your investment, although these can also face negative returns depending on the financial outlook and the currency it is denoted in.

Wrap up

Going cash is one of the easiest ways to reduce your market risk. And although that simple, this method of reducing market risk is often overlooked. There are several ways to reduce market risk which don’t necessarily involve going all cash. Still, the most radical solution is to sell everything now. But other options exist depending on your viewpoint of the current market environment. Once you have a (maybe even 100%) cash position, it is clever to weigh the possibilities that exist to put that cash position to work in the lowest risk environment possible via e.g., a money market fund.

Quarterly Outlook 2024 Q3

Sandcastle economics

01 / 05

  • Macro: Sandcastle economics

    Invest wisely in Q3 2024: Discover SaxoStrats' insights on navigating a stable yet fragile global economy.

    Read article
  • Bonds: What to do until inflation stabilises

    Discover strategies for managing bonds as US and European yields remain rangebound due to uncertain inflation and evolving monetary policies.

    Read article
  • Equities: Are we blowing bubbles again

    Explore key trends and opportunities in European equities and electrification theme as market dynamics echo 2021's rally.

    Read article
  • FX: Risk-on currencies to surge against havens

    Explore the outlook for USD, AUD, NZD, and EM carry trades as risk-on currencies are set to outperform in Q3 2024.

    Read article
  • Commodities: Energy and grains in focus as metals pause

    Energy and grains to shine as metals pause. Discover key trends and market drivers for commodities in Q3 2024.

    Read article

Disclaimer

The Saxo Bank Group entities each provide execution-only service and access to Analysis permitting a person to view and/or use content available on or via the website. This content is not intended to and does not change or expand on the execution-only service. Such access and use are at all times subject to (i) The Terms of Use; (ii) Full Disclaimer; (iii) The Risk Warning; (iv) the Rules of Engagement and (v) Notices applying to Saxo News & Research and/or its content in addition (where relevant) to the terms governing the use of hyperlinks on the website of a member of the Saxo Bank Group by which access to Saxo News & Research is gained. Such content is therefore provided as no more than information. In particular no advice is intended to be provided or to be relied on as provided nor endorsed by any Saxo Bank Group entity; nor is it to be construed as solicitation or an incentive provided to subscribe for or sell or purchase any financial instrument. All trading or investments you make must be pursuant to your own unprompted and informed self-directed decision. As such no Saxo Bank Group entity will have or be liable for any losses that you may sustain as a result of any investment decision made in reliance on information which is available on Saxo News & Research or as a result of the use of the Saxo News & Research. Orders given and trades effected are deemed intended to be given or effected for the account of the customer with the Saxo Bank Group entity operating in the jurisdiction in which the customer resides and/or with whom the customer opened and maintains his/her trading account. Saxo News & Research does not contain (and should not be construed as containing) financial, investment, tax or trading advice or advice of any sort offered, recommended or endorsed by Saxo Bank Group and should not be construed as a record of our trading prices, or as an offer, incentive or solicitation for the subscription, sale or purchase in any financial instrument. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, would be considered as a marketing communication under relevant laws.

Please read our disclaimers:
Notification on Non-Independent Investment Research (https://www.home.saxo/legal/niird/notification)
Full disclaimer (https://www.home.saxo/legal/disclaimer/saxo-disclaimer)
Full disclaimer (https://www.home.saxo/legal/saxoselect-disclaimer/disclaimer)

Saxo Bank (Schweiz) AG
The Circle 38
CH-8058
Zürich-Flughafen
Switzerland

Contact Saxo

Select region

Switzerland
Switzerland

All trading carries risk. Losses can exceed deposits on margin products. You should consider whether you understand how our products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. To help you understand the risks involved we have put together a general Risk Warning series of Key Information Documents (KIDs) highlighting the risks and rewards related to each product. The KIDs can be accessed within the trading platform. Please note that the full prospectus can be obtained free of charge from Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. or the issuer.

This website can be accessed worldwide however the information on the website is related to Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. All clients will directly engage with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. and all client agreements will be entered into with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. and thus governed by Swiss Law. 

The content of this website represents marketing material and has not been notified or submitted to any supervisory authority.

If you contact Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. or visit this website, you acknowledge and agree that any data that you transmit to Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., either through this website, by telephone or by any other means of communication (e.g. e-mail), may be collected or recorded and transferred to other Saxo Bank Group companies or third parties in Switzerland or abroad and may be stored or otherwise processed by them or Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. You release Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. from its obligations under Swiss banking and securities dealer secrecies and, to the extent permitted by law, data protection laws as well as other laws and obligations to protect privacy. Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. has implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect data from unauthorized processing and disclosure and applies appropriate safeguards to guarantee adequate protection of such data.

Apple, iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.