Leap day this year has some interesting parallels to 2020. We’re one week removed from a new high in the US stock market. Billie Eilish won Song of the Year at the Grammys. And the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. Amazingly, these same events unfolded before leap day four years ago.
Hopefully, not everything from the past four years repeats. I’d certainly prefer avoiding another pandemic, in particular. But it’s worth noting how the stock market rewarded disciplined investors during a tumultuous period. In addition to the pandemic, we continue to face a contentious political environment, the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas conflicts, as well as regional banking and government debt concerns in the US. And yet, despite all these events, the global equity market rose by 57%.1 Even if the next stretch between leap days echoes the last one, investors could still have a positive outcome from stocks.
Exhibit 1
Growth of $1 for the MSCI All Country World IMI Index (net div., USD), March 1, 2020–February 23, 2024
Past performance, including hypothetical performance, is no guarantee of future results.
Indices are not available for direct investment; therefore, their performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio. Data presented in the Growth of $1 chart is hypothetical and assumes reinvestment of income and no transaction costs or taxes. The chart is for illustrative purposes only and is not indicative of any investment.
Footnotes
- Based on the MSCI All Country World IMI Index (net div. USD) from March 1, 2020, to February 23, 2024.
This article originally appeared in Above the Fray, a weekly newsletter for Dimensional clients, written by Wes Crill, PhD, Dimensional Fund Advisors Senior Investment Director and Vice President. It was not created, written, or produced by Summit Financial Partners.
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