Research

Research Institute February 2009

Thought leadership from Credit Suisse research and the world’s foremost experts

Credit Suisse Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2009

CREDIT SUISSE GLOBAL INVESTMENT RETURNS YEARBOOK 2009_2

Photos: photocase.com © Andre Schütt. Cover: photocase.com © crocodile

Contents
05 11 19 Keeping faith with stocks Looking to the long term Possible futures 35 Netherlands 36 Norway 37 South Africa 38 Spain 25 Country profiles 26 Australia 27 Belgium 28 Canada 29 Denmark 30 France 31 Germany 32 Ireland 33 Italy 34 Japan 46 47 Authors Imprint/Disclaimer 39 Sweden 40 Switzerland 41 United Kingdom 42 United States 43 World 44 World ex-US 45 Europe

CREDIT SUISSE GLOBAL INVESTMENT RETURNS YEARBOOK 2009_

The Credit Suisse Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2009 offers more than 100 years of data on financial market returns, putting the tumultuous events of last year into long-run perspective. Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh and Mike Staunton of London Business School make a strong case that investors should keep faith with equities – while recognizing that extended holding periods are required to give a reasonable chance of capturing the high return historically given by stocks. They derive long-run expectations for the returns on different asset classes, and estimate how long it may take for equity markets to recover to previous highs. This is a global analysis, covering long-term returns and risks in 17 markets, from Australia, through Switzerland, to the United States. The scale of analysis extends far beyond what can be contained in this Yearbook, so an accompanying volume called the Global Investment Returns Sourcebook contains detailed tables, charts, listings, background, sources and references for every country. In addition, the Yearbook contains a review by Jonathan Wilmot, Chief Global Strategist for Investment Banking, of major secular and cyclical themes in the world economy over the last 200 years. He not only looks at