(August 9, 2012) — More than half of all major asset classes have made positive returns in the five years since the onset of the credit crisis with safe haven securities putting their riskier counterparts in the shade to take the top spots.
Commodities have dominated the top of the asset performing tree over the five years since the credit crunch is said to have officially begun. Corn and gold made almost 150%, according to figures released today by Deutsche Bank to commemorate the day, while silver also performed well with a return of over 100%.
Brent (crude oil), United States investment-grade fixed-income from non-financial companies, and sovereign bonds from the United Kingdom came next with around a 50% return over the five years.
Of the 35 major asset classes highlighted by the investment bank, the first mention of equity performance comes around midway down the table with the FTSE100, which made around a low double-digit return. This is followed a few places behind by the S&P500 making barely a positive return over the time period.
Investors who held heavy amounts of US financial stocks or any securities issued in the strife-stricken Eurozone countries would have seen poor returns from those sections of their portfolio.
The data from Deutsche Bank shows the Athex – representing Greek stocks – to have lost over 90% over the past five years and would have been the worst bet for investors. This was only slightly lower than European bank stocks – and any kind of security issued in Ireland.