Certainly SSM has NOT been defensive over the past week or so. I'm waiting for them to bottom, because I really do not understand the reason for the sell-off. I'm definitely looking to buy into SSM if they stay down around these levels - and stop falling - but not to park cash. AAA is the obvious one - a cash ETF, but the returns are miniscule. I have my own preferences - and they are mostly LICs, but I don't want to name them because these posts live on long after situations change, and situations change quickly with companies like that. There's risk with all listed companies, LICs and ETFs, and all are likely to fall in a crash. Even gold stocks got heavilly sold off at the start of the COVID-19 sell-off earlier this year. They did outperform for a period after the initial panic subsided but when everybody wants cash, everything gets sold, even so-called defensive stocks and alternative plays and hedges. I think when considering somewhere to park cash, have a look at the graph and see how that company held up when the rest of the market was down a lot. The best "parks" are the ones that have held up well when everything else was being heavilly sold, although obviously cash itself is likely going to outperform EVERYTHING else in a crash.

That's a +1 for Sam's response. I tend to agree, and I'm usually mostly fully invested, most of the time. I have never had much luck trying to time the top and bottom of the market, so I don't try. In March I was selling stocks that were fair value or cheap to buy stocks that were rediculously cheap, and that worked out OK. I also tend to look at liquidity as a risk in a big sell-off. Low liquidity stocks usually get absolutely smashed in a crash, so you only want to invest money in those when you are very unlikely to need that money in a hurry. I like to have a mix of large and small caps and my larger positions tend to have adequate liquidity so I can get out if I need to. But I do not tend to hold much cash. There are places I like to park cash, like in good quality LICs that are trading at a decent discount to NTA, but then it's not cash any more. If I need to free up cash to fund a new purchase or three, I can usually find something to sell where the outlook isn't AS good as it is with the new idea - IMO. If I can't find such sells, then the new idea is probably not good enough. That's usually how I tackle that problem anyway, mostly fully invested, most of the time. However, as Sam says, there's no "right" answer - it depends on the individual and their own view, style, risk tolerance and circumstances.