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For those who need a recap on what has happened in the investment world for the past 108 years, The Global Investment Returns Yearbook (GIRY), compiled by London Business School experts is definitely an eye opener. The core of the Yearbook is provided by a long-run study since 1900 in all the main asset categories in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These markets today make up some 85% of world equity market capitalisation.
The first chapter of the book gave us an insight of the global markets from the first eight years of this decade. The key findings for year 2007:
- Despite the turmoil in the credit markets, stock markets performed reasonably well in most countries. Emerging markets did best.
- Volatility accelerated from a low base at the start of 2007.
- Sector exposures had a larger impact than in recent years, with resource stocks doing particularly well, and financials suffering. Read more...