Sensex at all-time high, but real returns across asset classes just over 2%

In contrast, the previous decade (2000-2009) saw double digit nominal returns for stocks and gold while average inflation was at 5.55 per cent

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, might be at an all-time high of 41,000-plus points, but nominal returns from equities in the past decade, at 9 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), are nothing to write home about. Returns from the mid- and small-cap indices have been lower than those of the Sensex during the period.

A Balasubramanian, CEO, Birla SunLife Mutual Fund, said: “Equity returns are broadly linked to the nominal gross domestic product and broad earnings growth of companies. These factors were high in the early 1990s and during the previous decade. They have moderated