When we reach a certain age, we begin to talk about what we might bequeath to those we leave behind: frequently our children and often our grandchildren.

Much of our conversation will be about the assets we leave as directed within our Wills (hopefully having actually made our Wills).

Yet inheritance is about more than money and tangible objects; it's also about recollections of events, conversations, shared experiences - in short, the stories that make up a life.

Our earliest childhood memories of learning are usually triggered by seeing the kinds of colourful ‘starter’ books we give to our own children. Our parents pointed to the oversized letters and numbers then spelled them out so we could begin to understand.

Eventually we learned the great benefits of knowing how to express ourselves clearly - while harnessing the power of calculating numbers in pursuit of financial fitness and personal happiness.

This short essay is about a particularly important calculation.

Firstly, and most importantly, the wellbeing of all is foremost in our minds and we sincerely hope for a quick resolution to the awful crisis that is engulfing the world, and a reversion to normality without too much more hardship or suffering.

Stock markets are always the first and most obvious financial indicator when things go awry.   When uncertainty leads to pessimism, (and ultimately fear), market pricing dislocates, as it has in the last month.  This dislocation is amplified by the very mechanics of markets, where computer systems, short selling and algorithms drive volatility indiscriminately.  This period of significant volatility should be relatively short lived, but significant uncertainties remain, such that we expect further bouts of sharp price movements in the coming months.