We have already seen the historical returns of the BSE Sensex, which indicated an average return of about 20%  per year, despite many yearly returns varying from -20% to +60%. The following table shows BSE Sensex historical data - open, close and the yearly returns of the sensex from 2000 to 2012.

There are some interesting points to note from the above table. Post 2008 crash of about 50% and 2011 negative returns of 24%, markets have given positive returns of 81% and 25%. Also the average returns for the past years is about 20% despite the markets being down 24%. The lesson is pretty much clear - long term investing pays and one need not bother too much about the ups and downs of the markets.

During the past few years, the returns from investing in individual stocks have been varied.  Despite markets being at 2 year highs, only a few stocks are at similar highs, while most of them are still languishing well below their historical highs and are down anywhere between 80-90%. The message for retail investors is clear - index investing is better than individual stocks. Individual or Retail investors can achieve above-average returns by investing in index through Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) like Nifty Bees or Top mutual funds, which have given consistent returns over longer term.

Be a wise investor !