Goldman Sachs’ that the S&P 500 will deliver 3% annualized nominal total returns over the next 10 years has gotten a lot of attention. (Read TKer’s view and .)
I think Ben Carlson of Ritholtz Wealth Management it best: “It’s rare to see such low returns over a 10 year stretch but it can happen. Roughly 9% of all rolling 10 year annual returns have been 3% or less… So it’s improbable but possible.”
Investors would probably love to hear a more decisive view. But , and these kinds of imprecise assessments are the best we can do as we manage our expectations.
That said, last week came with a lot of Wall Streeters pushing back on Goldman’s forecast.
JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM) expects large-cap U.S. stocks to “return an annualized 6.7% over the next 10-15 years,” .
“I feel more confident in our numbers than theirs over the next decade,” JPMAM’s David Kelly . “But overall, we think that American corporations are extreme — they’ve got sharp elbows and they are very good at growing margins.“
“In our opinion, even Goldman’s might not be optimistic enough,” Yardeni . “If the productivity growth boom continues through the end of the decade and into the 2030s, as we expect, the S&P 500’s average annual return should at least match the 6%-7% achieved since the early 1990s. It should be more like 11% including reinvested dividends.”
“In our view, a looming lost decade for U.S. stocks is unlikely if earnings and dividends continue to grow at solid paces boosted by higher profit margins thanks to better technology-led productivity growth,” Yardeni said.
Datatrek Research co-founder Nicholas Colas is encouraged by where the stock market stands today and where it could be headed.
“The S&P 500 starts its next decade stacked with world class, profitable companies and there are more in the pipeline,” Colas wrote on Monday. “Valuations reflect that, but they cannot know what the future will bring.“
He believes “the next decade will see S&P returns at least as strong as the long run average of 10.6%, and possibly better.“
