Jun 27, 2016 3 min read

One sentiment about a world event with unknown global implications was summed up succinctly on an area business billboard: “Brexit Schmexit. Keep calm and carry on.”

It came from Botkin Family Wealth Management, a four-person operation at 2948 Washington Road, where Lester Botkin is CEO, Sara Botkin is president, Lester H. Botkin is chief investment officer and Danielle Wilson is director of client services.

As the U.S. markets opened Monday in the first full week of trading since the Thursday vote in the United Kingdom to pull out of the European Union, all of the major indices – the Dow, Standard & Poor’s 500 and NASDAQ were down significantly, but far off their lows of Friday, when world markets were trying to measure the impact of Britain’s decision.

Lester H. Botkin said Monday that Thursday’s event and the ongoing fallout “isn’t that different from any other freakout in the market.”

He noted until Thursday’s Brexit vote, the market was recovering from turmoil earlier in the year based on the Fed’s interest rate increase.

“The biggest concern is that the (Brexit) problem doesn’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said, noting short-term volatility in the markets is to be expected.

He added for most American investors, the problem has been weak earnings and low interest rates here in the United States.

Much like the Botkins’ sign, an internet advertisement for online trading firm Ameritrade took the classic British profile about a stiff upper lip and turned it around: “Keep calm and trade on.”

Even U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who acknowledged Monday the Brexit impact was still being measured, was remaining confident, despite the decision later Monday by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to strip the United Kingdom of its top credit grade in wake of its EU vote.

An Associated Press story quoted Lew in an interview with CNBC as stating,”I am not saying there will not be an impact on markets, but it has been an orderly impact so far.”

While acknowledging the Brexit decision is an “additional headwind” for the United States and other economies around the world, he said “there is no sense of a financial crisis developing.”

Lew said it would be important for economic policymakers to signal they are ready to use the tools they have to promote economic growth and “not overreact to a volatile day here and there.”

Navigating the volatility – and not panicking – was on the mind of Gary Boatman, of Boatman Wealth Management in Monessen.

Boatman said he received few calls from clients since the Brexit vote, “because all of my clients are not taking super risks” with their investments and “they don’t need their money today.”

The same was true at Botkin’s firm, where the clients have a long-term outlook for their investments.

“We don’t have anybody who’s got a time frame of months or even a couple of years. And if they are nearing retirement, they’re not invested in EU stocks,” Botkin said.

Boatman, who works with a market-management firm that actively manages the investment portfolios he uses with his clients, said the message he’s been passing on is centered on not trying to time the market, especially when it’s volatile.

“Warren Buffet can’t time the market, and neither can you or me or anybody else,” Boatman said. “It’s not the end of the world, but a journey to a slightly different kind of world.”