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April’s been a crazy month to be a Stocks and Shares ISA investor. Massive uncertainty has been stirred up by the Trump administration’s on-off tariffs, which seem to change at the drop of a hat (or tweet).
At the beginning of the month, my ISA became a sea of red, with some shares falling 20%+ in the space of a couple of days. Then tariffs were paused on 9 April and the market shot back up, with the S&P 500 recording one of its best days since the Second World War.
Buying the fear
Superstar investor Warren Buffett has been investing for eight decades. He famously said: “I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.”
Unfortunately, investing when the market’s tanking can be hard to do. In times like these, it often feels safer to sit out the storm.
However, history shows that investing during periods of fear — when investors are dumping stocks haphazardly — does indeed often lead to stellar results. That’s because the stock market has a flawless track record of recovering from every setback.
Take the onset of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, which was certainly a time of incredible uncertainty. If someone had invested in the S&P 500 as soon as it crashed 20% in March 2020, they’d have more than doubled their money by now.
The last proper crash before Covid was the 2008 Financial Crisis. So these opportunities tend to come around about once every decade or so, and are well worth seizing.
Taking action
Putting Buffett’s words into action, I did a bit of shopping for my ISA in early April. I bought two stocks, an investment trust, and an ETF.
Here’s how they’ve done since then:
- Nvidia at $95 (+11.5%)
- Shopify at $74 (+28%)
- BlackRock World Mining Trust (LSE: BRWM) at 395p (+21.5%)
- iShares NASDAQ 100 ETF (+8%)
2025 could present further opportunities
Needless to say, I’m happy with how these stocks have performed, so far. The thing is though, I’m expecting further volatility for the rest of 2025. The US-China trade war is likely to be very bad for economic growth. Many companies have hit the pause button on investment and hiring, opting to wait for greater clarity around global trade.
As such, there’s a real possibility that the US/global economy enters a slump later this year. If so, then there could be once-in-a-decade opportunities coming up for investors with cash sitting in an ISA.
Another 100%+ return
Zooming in on BlackRock World Mining, this FTSE 250 trust — which invests in mining assets worldwide — is an interesting play. It tends to bomb along with metal prices when the economic outlook worsens (as mentioned, a key risk here).
Conversely, it often bounces back strongly when sentiment improves (as it has in recent days). Looking back, £5,000 invested in the shares in March 2020 would now be worth £10,000. Add in the dividends received along the way, the total return would be around £13,000.
I think this trust could be worth considering if things head south. Many of the metals it’s invested in — especially gold and copper — are likely to become more valuable over the long run.
