It has not just been a lost quarter or year; the JSE has been a poor place to invest for more than a decade. For a global investor, for every R100 you had to invest in the ALSI at the end of December 2010, you would have approximately R360 today, including all dividends reinvested. In US dollars, a US$100 investment would only be worth about US$126 at the end of March 2024, given that the rand has weakened from R6.62/US$ to R18.88/US$ over this time. Excluding dividends, in nominal terms, the value of that investment would be down in US dollars. In contrast, a US$100 investment in the USA’s major index, the S&P 500, in December 2010 would be worth roughly US$539 at the end of March 2024 – more than four times the return experienced on the ALSI.
It has not just been a lost quarter or year; the JSE has been a poor place to invest for more than a decade. For a global investor, for every R100 you had to invest in the ALSI at the end of December 2010, you would have approximately R360 today, including all dividends reinvested. In US dollars, a US$100 investment would only be worth about US$126 at the end of March 2024, given that the rand has weakened from R6.62/US$ to R18.88/US$ over this time. Excluding dividends, in nominal terms, the value of that investment would be down in US dollars. In contrast, a US$100 investment in the USA’s major index, the S&P 500, in December 2010 would be worth roughly US$539 at the end of March 2024 – more than four times the return experienced on the ALSI.
