With the local share market up 32% since the bottom of the COVID-10 ‘Black Swan’ event on 23rd March (but still negative 16.6% since the all time peak on the 20th February), I thought the below graphic from Dimensional is interesting for the following reasons:

  1. Since 1980, the Australian stock market has rewarded investors with an average return of about 13%.
  2. Annual returns came within two percentage points of the market’s long-term average of 13% in just five of the past 40 years.
  3. Yearly returns have ranged as high as up 67% and as low as down 39%.
  4. Since 1980, annual returns have been positive 29 times and negative 11 times.

Four months on from the COVID-correction on local and international investment markets, it reinforces why we stay the course and focus on our overall investment strategy.