For many of you who know me, you would be aware that I am a volunteer Lifesaver over the summer period. Lifesaving was something I only took up four years ago, mostly by chance, as I struggled to swim 100 metres. Still, I was welcomed into a vibrant community with a wonderful social aim: mitigating risk so people can experience our remarkable Australian beaches.

Lifesavers are trained to constantly scan hundreds of swimmers across hundreds of square meters of water and beach. This is not a passive activity; it requires vigilant, constant attention from all patrol members, as you need to actively watch for signs of distress and anomalies.

Additionally, you are dealing with a changing landscape. The conditions on the beach and the tides are dynamic, and it doesn’t take much for a passive situation to quickly become dangerous, especially on Queensland’s sweep beaches.  To combat this, lifesavers are trained in risk mitigation. A rescue situation often occurs when risk mitigation fails. Prevention and risk mitigation, when done well, anticipate and move in advance of an event, potentially heading off a traumatic (rescue) situation. One of the measures put in place is to swim between the flags, where the optimum location for the most desirable swimming conditions can be monitored.

Having time on patrol on Christmas Day and Boxing Day allowed me to reflect on this and the work we do here at Future Gen Solutions. Recent and ongoing geo-political events do not allow for passive investing – the environment is changing as we speak. The degree of risk involved in investing is now at historic highs, and constant attention, monitoring and vigilance are required.

Swimming between the flags for us means ensuring clients are invested in line with their risk profiles and the asset allocation we have recommended. Sticking to that asset allocation and not being tempted to go outside it (swimming outside the flags) is paramount, as just like the beach, it doesn’t take much for a bank (sand bank) to collapse and the rip tides (market collapses or black swan events) to take swimmers and investors out to sea.

It’s not a perfect science, and sometimes, just like lifesavers, we are chastised for being too cautious. However, given the recent three years in a row of excellent returns, one could be forgiven for believing that we are in the year of living dangerously.