Five years ago today BNP Paribas stopped withdrawals from three of their investment funds - because they couldn't value their holdings following the subprime fallout - and arguably marked the start of the Great Financial Crisis as money markets seized up and the ECB did its first emergency liquidity pump. In the five years hence, as Deutsche's Jim Reid notes, its been a pretty good run for commodities and most fixed income assets. Given all that's gone on over this period it’s fair to say that returns have been pretty good if you've been in the right areas. The authorities have played a big part in ensuring the period wasn't a disaster even if there have been frightening periods and very poor returns in some areas. Given that there are still numerous unresolved issues, the authorities need to continue to be on full alert for the next 5 years to ensure that when we do the 10 year anniversary there haven't been set-backs in many of these assets.
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Source: Deutsche Bank