We are constantly reminded that investing is best over the long term.  This chart shows just how true that is.

It shows the probability of making money from the UK stock market since 1965 if the shares were held for various periods of time. It was put together by Woodford Investment Management, with the data taken from the Datastream UK index.

Obviously investing for 1 day the chance of making a profit is very low at only 55.2% probability.

One week or one month are not much better at 57.6 and 63.9 % respectively.

However, when investing for periods of 1,3 and 5 years the chance of making a profit are greatly increased with 5 years showing a 92.8% probability of making money.

However, the principle of investing for the long term is clearly shown to work over a 10 year period when the change of making a profit come out at 99.4%

It is worth bearing in mind , however,  that these probability figures are based on the average share in the market. Very similar to the performance of a UK Tracker fund. 

Active funds overseen by fund managers who aim to beat the market, will either shorten or lengthen the odds of making a positive return on your invested capital.

Professionally selecting the best performing funds will increase the probability of making a good return on your investments.

The chart may look slightly different in 10 years time, but the trend is unlikely to change dramatically.

Past performance is of course no guide to the future, but we have long term confidence in  UK equities and our ability to add value to your investments and savings by selecting the right balance for your investments and choosing the best performing funds.