High valuations may challenge India's 25-year lead in real returns

China was unable to deliver returns when its economy was on fire, and today it faces geopolitical challenges

I had the opportunity to go through a very interesting study put out by Jim Reid and his team at DB Bank, focusing on financial market returns over the past 25 years. The study is exhaustive and filled with data and insights. It looks at returns over the 25-year period from January 2000 to the end of 2024. The following statistics stood out to me.

 

While most of us have come to accept American exceptionalism in the financial markets — with the US accounting for nearly 65 per cent of global equity indices and reaching new highs with back-to-back years