Log in
The Dimson-Marsh-Staunton study of long-run global asset returns involved (i) the construction of a unique database of long-run returns on stocks, bonds, bills, inflation, currencies, GDP and population growth for 22 countries since 1900; and (ii) interrogation of this resource to answer contemporary questions in investment, finance, and regulation. It underpins a worldwide reappraisal of the size of the equity risk premium. The project has informed the strategy of the world's largest investors; influenced cost of capital estimates and real investment decisions in leading corporations; and guided regulation of financial institutions, utilities, and other businesses.
Equity investors have twice suffered large losses, known as `drawdowns' on their investments in the last dozen years: in 2001 and 2009. This applies to both individuals and institutions and has had an adverse effect on both individuals' living standards entering retirement and the attitude of individuals to the advantages of long-term asset accumulation. The research of Professor Andrew Clare and Professor Stephen Thomas at City University London has created commercially available investment products that offer superior risk-adjusted returns with a transparent strategy supported by published, peer-reviewed research and which avoid such large losses. They developed a simple `trend following' 'smoothing` technique to create a diversified, developed market equity fund which was launched by WAY Fund Managers in March 2011. At the start of 2013, following the success of this strategy, the researchers launched an investible index, the Cass Trend Master Index, in collaboration with Credit Suisse. This index now forms the basis of several structured products predominantly aimed at institutional investors. In April 2013 the researchers launched another set of investible indices, based on the same investment principles, with Goldman Sachs and Indexx Markets. These focus on single asset classes including equities and commodities.