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SUMMARY:Ex post: The investment performance of collectible stamps 1865-200
 8 - Professor Elroy Dimson\, London Business School
DTSTART:20101122T170000Z
DTEND:20101122T190000Z
UID:TALK26135@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:D'Maris Coffman
DESCRIPTION:This paper uses stamp catalogue prices to investigate the retu
 rns on British collectible postage stamps \nover the period 1900–2008. W
 e find an annualized return on stamps of 7.0% in nominal terms\, or \n2.9%
  in real terms. These returns are higher than those on bonds but below tho
 se on equities. The \nvolatility of stamp prices approaches that of equiti
 es. Stamp returns are impacted by movements in the \nequity market\, but t
 he systematic risk of stamps remains low. Stamps partially hedge against \
 nunanticipated inflation. Estimates of average after-cost returns for indi
 vidual investors show that \nstamps may rival equities in terms of realize
 d performance.  \n \nJEL classification: D14\, G1\, N24\, Z11. \nKeywords:
  Alternative investments\; Indexes\; Long-term returns\; Philately\; Stamp
 s. \n
LOCATION:Lucia Windsor Room\, Newnham College
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