Breaking through 9,000 for the first time this week, the FTSE 100 is now running neck and neck with the S&P 500 over one year. With dividends reinvested, both have delivered a 13% return to shareholders over the past 12 months. It was only in April last year that the UK benchmark first hit 8,000. The Chancellor could hardly have picked a better time to be banging the drum for investing in shares generally, and London-listed ones in particular.
This is a dramatic improvement on the UK stock market’s historic underperformance of the US. Over ten years, on the same total return basis, £100 invested in British shares has grown to £200 while the same amount on Wall Street is worth £350 today. Over 20 years, American shares have done twice as well as our domestic market.
The inclusion of reinvested dividends is important because it is one of the key differences between the US and UK stock markets. London has always been a good…
