Although the year 2016 has not been a great one, there are some positive trends to take notice of. Over three in four investors managed to make a profit on their investments in 2016, which is quite a surprising number. But what is even more intriguing is how women outperformed men when it comes to making strategic investments for the third year in a row.
Investors Made Good Money In 2016
Based on the statistics shared by Open Folio, a lot of investors succeeded in making money throughout 2016. For a year filled with stock market woes, real estate prices crashing, and other financial turmoil, that is a very positive outcome. More importantly, it is a welcome change compared to 2015, as virtually everyone using the Openfolio app lost money that year.
While this news creates high expectations for 2017, the financial woes are far from over. In fact, the trouble in Venezuela and India goes to show how fragile our economic ecosystem is right now. That said, stock markets have recovered a portion of their 2015 losses, and seem on track to continue that trend throughout 2017.
To put this new into perspective, the average investor secured a 5% profit throughout 2016. Albeit that indicates a growth of the financial portfolio, this number is nothing to sneeze at either. Five percent is relatively low compared to other years and seems to pale in comparison to the Dow Jones increasing by 13.4%. Unfortunately, it appears very few investors put money into US stocks, which was somewhat of a wrong decision.
Diversification of one’s investment portfolio is always advised, but that doesn’t mean one will earn more money by year’s end. Interestingly enough, those who invested in Russian stocks have noted significant gains, as that market was the top performer of 2016. Despite the average gains resulting in a 5% profit, it is still far more than the money gained from having a savings account these days.
But the most money has been made in the Bitcoin sector throughout 2016. Investors who obtained BTC at the end of 2015 or in early 2016 saw the value of their holdings increase by nearly 250%. This makes Bitcoin the most profitable investment vehicle for 2016. In fact, it outperformed any market one can imagine with two hands behind its back.
The bigger question is what the year 2017 will hold for investors. Traditional investment vehicles are showing signs of recovery, but it remains unknown if this trend can continue in 2017. The Bitcoin price is showing more signs of growth in the first two days of 2017 already, making it far more appealing than any other investment vehicle available right now.
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