There is no higher priority to New Hampshire Trust* than the wellbeing of our customers’ health and finances.

In every situation, there are elements that are in our control, and those that are not. We have little control over the effects of the global reaction to Covid-19 and the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia earlier this week.   We can control our response and perspective to the day-to-day fluctuations of security pricing driven by outside factors. Emotion can play a large role in the setting of stock prices, especially in the short term. However, over time those emotional reactions become significantly less relevant and stock prices become more stable and based on logical factors, such as a company’s revenues, earning and competitive position.

As long as the current uncertainty around the virus and oil pricing remains, the market may continue to be as volatile as it has been over the last couple of weeks. This is not the first time that public health concerns have impacted the markets. I don’t mean to minimize the coronavirus and its impact, but to simply note that the markets have weathered other health scares and world shocks in the modern era. History suggests that we will weather this issue as well, and it also suggests that a properly balanced portfolio is the best path to long-term investment success.

I also want to let you know that we are in closely monitoring communication from state medical professionals, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), government agencies, and internal teams to stay on top of this evolving situation. According to the most recent information from the CDC, for most people, the immediate risk of being exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to be low.

We clean all of our buildings every night, and, we have enhanced our overnight cleaning procedures. In addition, we have increased the number of times each day we wipe down common-use surfaces. Hand-cleaner will be available in most locations and we are working with our supplier to ensure we have it in all locations.

We have reminded our staff that we request that they stay home when they are ill, and have requested that employees not travel out of state for work-related causes for the immediate future.  We ask that you help to protect our staff and other customers by opting to use online and phone based options whenever possible if you are ill.

In the near term, we are encouraging all of our advisor staff to reach out to customers to hold meetings by phones and other virtual methods include WebEx when appropriate. We will certainly continue to see our customers in person but are trying our best to utilize methods for sharing information that do not involve face to face meetings.

In addition, we want to take a moment to remind customers of the many ways that you can check your investments remotely. These tools have long been in place and provide our customers access to accounts 24×7.   These include access to investments through Infinex and MillRiver managed money.

During business hours, you can also call us at 603.223.2712 or contact us via our website .

Please note that we are monitoring this developing situation closely. We are prepared to work together with you throughout these challenging times with your safety and the safety of our staff at the forefront of all decisions.

Thank you for your business.

Sincerely,

Paul Provost, President

*As of 1/1/2020, NHTrust includes the now united companies of MillRiver Wealth Management, The New Hampshire Trust Company and SBW Wealth Management.