US stocks had a hard time as well

The worst investment decade since the Second World War has just bid us farewell but those feeling the pinch at home might spare a thought for investors across the Atlantic.

By The Newsroom

Published 1st Jan 2010, 18:38 BST

Updated 1st Jan 2010, 18:38 BST

Since December 1999, a typical 60/40 equity/bond portfolio in the United States would have recorded the lowest average annual returns since the 1940s at about 1.4 per cent.

Wall Street's S&P500 index is down 24.6 per cent since 1999. It remains in the red to the tune of 9.8 per cent even when dividends are reinvested.

And if you happened to be an unhedged investor in Wall Street from outside the country, you suffered a double whammy. The dollar lost some 23 per cent against a basket of the most traded world currencies.

And the misery is not confined to Wall Street and the City. Benchmark bourses in France, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Finland, Greece and Iceland have all underperformed the S&P500 in local currency terms, notching up losses of between 35 and 70 per cent over the decade.