The banking sector has not had a good decade, thats for sure.
But although some of the FTSE 100 banks would have lost you money, we saw recently that Asia-focused HSBC Holdings would have turned a 10,000 investment into 12,800 over ten years. Thats not brilliant, but it is a lot better than the ones crushed by the liquidity crisis.
Even better
And youd have done better on the Asian theme if youd invested in Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) (NASDAQOTH: SCBFF.US) instead.
While HSBC was rescued by dividends, Standard Chartered actually enjoyed a price rise over the decade as well. From a price of 800p on 30 September 2004, its shares climbed to 1,140p ten years later thats a capital gain of 42.6%, and it would have turned an initial 10,000 into 14,258.
Standard Chartered shares have fallen back a little since the end of September, to 1,094p as I write, but thats still 37% up, and still nothing to cry over.
But what about those dividends?
Standard Chartered has been averaging yields of a little over 3% for the whole of the decade, and never had to slash its annual payments like some of the others. The total over 10 years comes to 5,193, which would take your reward to 19,451 nearly doubled.
Reinvestment
But thats not the end of the story, because long-term investors who understand the power of compounding will typically not keep the cash, but will buy new shares with it instead. So what difference would it have made if youd reinvested the cash in more Standard Chartered shares each year instead?
Sadly, the short answer is not a lot.
For reinvesting to work well, you do need a rising share price. Volatility can add to it by helping you buy more shares when the price is low, but Standard Chartereds volatility has almost all been on the up side. The price was a lot higher before the banking crisis, the 2009 dip was very short with a quick recover, and since 2010 the price has been falling back again.
A reinvestment plan would have added just 77 to your total and you wouldnt have achieved that magic doubling.
The next ten
Still, the 19,528 youd have ended the decade with wouldnt have been bad, and in place of of the 1,250 shares you originally bought youd be heading into the next decade with 1,700. And I reckon Standard Chartered shares are looking cheap now.
A well-balanced portfolio chosen from a number of sectors really is the best way to build yourself a healthy retirement pot, but should Standard Chartered be one of them?
You have to decide for yourself, but the Motley Fool’s latest analysis of Five Shares To Retire On should give you some welcome help. It covers five very solid blue-chip shares and tells you why our experts think they’ll serve you well in the decades ahead!
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Alan Oscroft has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.
