10k Words | January 2025

Apparently, Confucius did not say “One Picture is Worth Ten Thousand Words” after all. It was an advertisement in a 1920s trade journal for the use of images in ads on the sides of streetcars...

Jan 09, 2025

Only Argentina’s sharemarket outpaced the US in CY2024, with a mediocre performance from Australia; 10-year bond yields expanded despite the Federal Reserve’s rate cuts; the AUD battled while the USD went from strength-to-strength; while natural gas was the commodity of choice. We can’t help but highlight the concentration in the US market once again; while its pricing is dependent on a resurgence in earnings outside the tech sector. The thing about high multiples for the S&P 500 is that they tend to be followed by low 10-year returns. Maybe that is why money flowed out of active equities funds in CY2024. We take a look at the implications of volatility on small cap returns and the severity of drawdowns that have been seen across asset classes through the decades. Then we see just how big a part of the global investment pie equities have become. Finally, we look at the increased role government borrowing has played in the US and government spending has played in Australia.

Global equity ETF total returns for 2024 (in USD)