This is my last post on the returns of the MSCI World Index. My final chart shows the rolling one-year returns in U.S. dollars for the MSCI World Index; it is the smallest timespan I use for rolling returns. In line with industry standards, the 1-year return numbers are non-annualized.

Currently, using the end of March 2024 numbers as the latest values, the 12-month real total return is about 21.5% and has been positive since May of last year.

In my series about the returns of the MSCI World Index, I started with annual or calendar year price and total returns in U.S. dollars (USD) and Icelandic kronas (ISK) from 1988 to 2023, and showed the returns in relation to their means and standard deviations.

The following posts displayed rolling price and total returns both in USD and ISK over four different time periods: 3-, 5-, 10- and 20-years. Next I calculated the compounded annual growth rates (CAGRs) and showed the cumulative (or holding period) price and total returns in USD and ISK through growth of a 100 charts, using both linear and semi-log y-scales.

Then I adjusted the price and total returns for inflation in the United States. Finally, I displayed the different measures of return for each rolling period in five single charts. I left out showing charts of the rolling price and total returns in ISK, and the CAGRs and cumulative price and total returns in ISK, after taking into account U.S. CPI.

Instead of the MSCI World Index, I could have chosen another global stock market index such as the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI), FTSE All-World Index, or just the S&P 500 index in the U.S.