Investments:can they really keep going up?

C_Mababejive

A slightly naive question but leaving aside short term variations, can investments really keep going up and up?

Just for illustration..one of my investments..

HSBC global strategy balanced ACC

I first bought into this in feb 2019 at 182p

I made several further lump sum investments over following years ,at slightly increased prices each time.

The price today is 217

Now of course i realise that investing is a long term game so if im going to push lump sums into such funds, maybe its a good idea to apply a little bit of targetting, ie buy on slight dips. This might be tricky given the way that funds are valued daily though of course dips tend to come in a series rather than one off daily dips.

I guess my investment window is at least 15 years if i live that long.

I suppose what supports the natural upward trend is generally driven by expension, inflation and growth of the global economy so as long as all those things continue then price rise is all but inevitable?

Thrugelmir

Majority of share prices over the longer term don't beat the return on cash. Company fortunes rise and fall as the years pass.  The bulk of returns are made by a few companies. 

dunstonh

Ignoring dividends, the FTSE100 is lower than it was 20 odd years ago.

sevenhills

dunstonh said:

Ignoring dividends, the FTSE100 is lower than it was 20 odd years ago.

The FTSE 20 years ago was 6,400 at its highest, today its 6,700

If you look at the FTSE 40 years ago to today values, you can see the gradual increase, taking out the highs and lows.

1985 = 1300

1990 = 2250

2000 = 6,400

2010 = 5,870

2022 = 6,700

masonic

sevenhills said:

dunstonh said:

Ignoring dividends, the FTSE100 is lower than it was 20 odd years ago.

The FTSE 20 years ago was 6,400 at its highest, today its 6,700

If you look at the FTSE 40 years ago to today values, you can see the gradual increase, taking out the highs and lows.

1985 = 1300

1990 = 2250

2000 = 6,400

2010 = 5,870

2022 = 6,700

Where did you get the 2022 figure from?

Alexland

masonic said:

Where did you get the 2022 figure from?

Shh... we're not supposed to talk about that.

Bobziz

Alexland said:

masonic said:

Where did you get the 2022 figure from?

Shh... we're not supposed to talk about that.

Can we talk about which horse won the 3:30 at Newmarket later today ?

Alexland

Bobziz said:

Can we talk about which horse won the 3:30 at Newmarket later today ?

Not until later - gotta keep the impression going that the future isn't known yet as despite the uncertainty it causes people seem to find grounds for optimism so overall its probably beneficial.

Ibrahim5

I am sure I read somewhere that the value of investments can go up and down.

C_Mababejive

Yes of course we know investments go up and down but im talking about the wider trend over time of for example a balanced portfolio or a ready made mixed fund. Not the erratic volatility of single shares.

dunstonh

sevenhills said:

dunstonh said:

Ignoring dividends, the FTSE100 is lower than it was 20 odd years ago.

The FTSE 20 years ago was 6,400 at its highest, today its 6,700

If you look at the FTSE 40 years ago to today values, you can see the gradual increase, taking out the highs and lows.

1985 = 1300

1990 = 2250

2000 = 6,400

2010 = 5,870

2022 = 6,700

1996 = 4.119
1999 = 6,930
2002 = 3,940  

So, in 1999, the FTSE100 was higher than it was today.(6758 at this moment)