Equities and Fixed Interest Stocks During Twenty-Five Years

Extract

In November 1927 I submitted to this Institute a paper on the place of ordinary stocks and shares in the investment of life assurance funds. The conclusions were drawn from an investigation of hypothetical investments made in 1912 of uniform amount in the equities of nine groups of companies and followed out during a period of fifteen years. A comparison was made with similar investments made in the fixed interest securities of the same groups of companies. The records showed clearly in favour of the equities both as to income during the fifteen years and as to capital values at the end of the term. It has been on my conscience for some time that the record is incomplete without the inclusion of the period of the world depression in industry and trade which followed soon after the close of the period selected.