Concept of F0 should be recognized again

2021 is a pivotal year for F0s in many aspects: F0 as in Covid-19 F0 cases and F0 as in new investors in securities. First of all, 2021 is the year that some people jokingly call the second Covid year. Vietnam succeeded in controlling the pandemic in 2020. 
Concept of F0 should be recognized again ảnh 1 Illustrative image. (Photo: SGGP)
However, the outbreak since April 2021 has brought an extremely different appearance, with the number of F0 cases increasing exponentially and eventually leading to a different approach against the Covid-19 pandemic. From implementing the Zero-Covid-19 policy, ensuring that there are no more Covid-19 cases, Vietnam has switched to a new strategy, living safely with the virus, in the spirit of safe adaptation, flexibility, and effective control of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to data from the Ministry of Health (MoH), from more than 1,000 in 2020, the number of F0 cases increased to more than 1.65 million by the end of 2021, but there were also nearly 1.25 million Covid-19 patients treated and recovered. They are F0 cases that were detected and treated, while there might still be F0 cases that were not detected and recovered on their own. Therefore, the actual number of F0 cases may be significantly higher than the figure released by the MoH. F0 cases accounted for 1.69 percent of the population, which means among 100 people, there may be two F0 cases.

Covid-19 has become a part of life. Therefore, F0 cases should not be discriminated against or afraid of. It is essential to get rid of the thinking that F0 cases deserve to be stayed away and discriminated against. They are simply unluckily infected with the virus as any disease anyone can get. Therefore, 2021 is a pivotal year for people to change the way they look and think about the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as how to deal with the virus and treat those who are unfortunately infected with it. F0 cases have already become a significant part of the community, even though it is beyond their desire. Thus, the discriminatory mistreatment of F0 cases and people in the households with the "medical isolation" signboards deserves condemnation. It goes against the Government's pandemic control policy and the Vietnamese tradition of loving and taking care of each other.

2021 is also an interesting year for F0 investors in the stock market. Due to economic disruption, many people stayed at home and became F0 investors in the stock sector globally. The power of these new players was only shown when they stunned international investors by driving up the price of GameStop or AMC shares at an unbelievable rate to punish institutional investors who shorted these stocks. The price of GameStop shares, from below US$19 in early 2021, was pushed to a peak of $481 per share on January 28, an increase of over 2,500 percent. These small investors, including many F0 investors, have flaunted their strength and sent a warning to veteran investors and institutions that they are part of the market. To despise F0 is to pay the price. It is the lesson for many short sellers who sold the stocks that these investors favored in 2021.

Just like Covid-19 F0 cases, F0 investors are a part of the market, and they should not be disrespected. Some of them have a lot of money. More importantly, they have a growing community. Many of these F0 investors are millennials or even younger, the Gen Z. The oldest person in Gen Z is only 24 years old, while a large number of millennials are starting to have serious financial accumulation plans. There are different estimates by investment banks about how much millennials will receive through inheritance in the next decade, ranging from $24 trillion to $30 trillion, or even up to $68 trillion. And these are just figures in the US only.

We are about to witness a Great Wealth Transfer between the previous generation and the millennial one from now to 2030. With the familiarity of these young people with stocks and riskier assets, such as cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, the new investment trend will change. And they will be the part that gradually replaces millionaires and billionaires of the previous generation.

Risk appetite, the preference for technological companies, the familiarity with metaverse, and the views on the environment, green economy, and sustainable development of this new generation of investors will replace old investment views, which prefer gold, bonds, or some precious paintings in the US as some investment banks have said.

In Vietnam, this trend will be similar. More and more heirs from the 8X and 9X generations have been seen to hold key positions in large organizations. It is part of the generation transition and wealth transfer. These people are also F0s.

They are the people who invest in stocks for the first time, own a company for the first time, and have to shoulder the burden of asset management calculations for themselves or their whole family for the first time. However, to look down on them is to pay the price.

So, in my opinion, 2021 is the year that the concept of F0 should be recognized again for its rightful place whether with the Covid-19 pandemic or in the investment world. Above all, no one should discriminate or look down on them.

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