Managers remember Lehmans 10 years on: 'It was a lesson in fighting fear and your instincts'

One CIO has described the collapse of Lehmans as a "scar" that those who worked through the event bear, while another commentator asserts that every investor who was active at the time will have been affected.

Therefore, it is not surprising the fallout from the demise of Lehmans has left a legacy of mistrust and uncertainty for many, not least regarding the far-reaching implications of extensively loose monetary policy.

Indeed, as one contributor said, post-crisis central bank action - which has driven investors to take more risk - could mean the next bear market runs deep.

The investors set for a £6bn Lehman Brothers pay-out

On a more positive note, commentators say the crisis reminded them of the advantages of building a diversified portfolio and avoiding the crystallisation of losses, noting the S&P 500 regained all of its losses by December 2010, as well as pointing to the regulatory overhaul within the banking system and wider financial sector seen over the past decade.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell

Lehmans did feel a bit like the end of the world. I was editing Shares magazine at the time and our advertising revenue just went out like someone had flicked off a switch, with the awful consequence that we had to make a lot of hard-working staff redundant.

That is never nice and there is never a good time for someone to lose their job, especially during a recession.

That brought one lesson home - financial market meltdowns can have a spillover effect into the real economy.

And I suspect the impact of the next bear market - as and when it comes - could well be profound, too, especially as central banks have encouraged (or forced) people to take more risk than they would normally to get a return on their cash, through tools of financial repression such as record-low interest rates and QE.

The second lesson is no matter how bad things are looking for your portfolio, do not panic.

Although the market tanked in the wake of the Lehmans collapse, losing more than 40% before it hit bottom, the S&P 500 had recaptured all of the ground it lost by December 2010. Losses only became losses if you were a forced seller and those losses were crystallised.

Building a diversified portfolio to see you through the volatility is key, as that means you can tough out the bad times and wait for the good times to roll again without locking in those losses.

Admittedly this is harder to do than it sounds, as the psychological pressure to panic out is intense. The 2007-2009 bear market was typical of all downturns in one way - the worst losses often come during the final third of the sell-off, time-wise.

Darius McDermott: How do financials look 10 years after Lehmans?

In this case, the S&P 500 lost 44% in the final third of the 2007-09 plunge, a brutal 172-day spell, which wiped 73% off the index in total over just 517 days.

As for the future, after a near-ten-year bull market, we all need to be on our guard, especially as global indebtedness now is higher than it was in 2007.

That cannot be good, even with interest rates where they are, and there has to be a chance that central banks' efforts to keep the plates spinning by enabling governments to take on more debt, and encouraging companies and consumers to do so, is going to leave someone with a big bill at some stage.

Interest rates are likely to remain subdued for some time to come and when the next downturn comes I would not be at all surprised to see negative interest rates and more QE.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Investment
• Industry
• Global
• Regulation
• Lehmans
• Lehmans: 10 years on
• Lehman Brothers
• AJ Bell
• Neptune
• City Asset Management
• Fidelity International
• Charles Stanley
• Charles Stanley Direct
• Hargreaves Lansdown
• TwentyFour Asset Management
• Rowan Dartington
• liquidation
• global financial crisis
• bankruptcy
• Recession