Equities trump other asset classes in year gone by, shows data

There has been a surge in demand for residential property in the aftermath of the pandemic, but prices haven't budged much due to excess inventory

Investors who reposed their faith in equities this year were amply rewarded, with the asset class beating all other investment categories by a wide margin.

The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty have returned 22 per cent and 24 per cent in 2021. Returns from certain categories of equity funds - large-cap, mid-cap, and flexi-cap - are even higher and range between 30 per cent and 60 per cent.

In comparison, the price of MCX Gold has corrected over 6 per cent year-to-date. Residential real estate has returned 1-3 per cent average annual returns across top seven cities.

Fixed deposits (FDs) have fetched lower