IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/exehis/v52y2014icp1-21.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The first global emerging markets investor: Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust 1880–1913

Author

Listed:
  • Chambers, David
  • Esteves, Rui

Abstract

The Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust is the oldest surviving closed end fund, having been established in 1868. Its early success and emulation were related to its identification of a missing market – the provision of a wholesale diversified vehicle for the investing public. This paper is a micro-study of this leading investment trust during the First Era of financial globalisation. The history of this flagship fund over more than three decades provides an insight into the relative success of this financial innovation as well as into the risk and returns of investing in emerging markets over a century ago.

Suggested Citation

  • Chambers, David & Esteves, Rui, 2014. "The first global emerging markets investor: Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust 1880–1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:52:y:2014:i:c:p:1-21
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2013.08.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014498313000375
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eeh.2013.08.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fishlow, Albert, 1985. "Lessons from the past: capital markets during the 19th century and the interwar period," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(3), pages 383-439, July.
    2. W. Scott Frame & Lawrence J. White, 2004. "Empirical Studies of Financial Innovation: Lots of Talk, Little Action?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 116-144, March.
    3. Blake, Christopher R & Elton, Edwin J & Gruber, Martin J, 1993. "The Performance of Bond Mutual Funds," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(3), pages 370-403, July.
    4. Peter Temin & Hans-Joachim Voth, 2004. "Riding the South Sea Bubble," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1654-1668, December.
    5. Michael C. Jensen, 1968. "The Performance Of Mutual Funds In The Period 1945–1964," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(2), pages 389-416, May.
    6. Goetzmann, William N. & Ibbotson, Roger G. & Peng, Liang, 2001. "A new historical database for the NYSE 1815 to 1925: Performance and predictability," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 1-32, January.
    7. Henriksson, Roy D & Merton, Robert C, 1981. "On Market Timing and Investment Performance. II. Statistical Procedures for Evaluating Forecasting Skills," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 513-533, October.
    8. David Le Bris & Pierre-Cyrille Hautcoeur, 2009. "A challenge to triumphant optimists? A blue chips index for the Paris Stock-Exchange (1854-2007)," Working Papers halshs-00586765, HAL.
    9. BenjaminR. Chabot & ChristopherJ. Kurz, 2010. "That's Where The Money Was: Foreign Bias and English Investment Abroad, 1866-1907," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(547), pages 1056-1079, September.
    10. Le Bris, David & Hautcœur, Pierre-Cyrille, 2010. "A challenge to triumphant optimists? A blue chips index for the Paris stock exchange, 1854–2007," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 141-183, October.
    11. Levine, Ross, 2005. "Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 865-934, Elsevier.
    12. Kaminsky, Graciela L. & Reinhart, Carmen M., 2000. "On crises, contagion, and confusion," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 145-168, June.
    13. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    14. P. J. Cain & A. G. Hopkins, 1980. "The Political Economy of British Expansion Overseas, 1750–1914," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 33(4), pages 463-490, November.
    15. Mitchener, Kris James & Weidenmier, Marc D., 2008. "The Baring Crisis and the Great Latin American Meltdown of the 1890s," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(2), pages 462-500, June.
    16. Lee, Charles M C & Shleifer, Andrei & Thaler, Richard H, 1991. "Investor Sentiment and the Closed-End Fund Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 75-109, March.
    17. Litan, Robert E., 2010. "In Defense of Much, but Not All, Financial Innovation," Working Papers 10-06, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, Weiss Center.
    18. Graciela L. Kaminsky & Carmen M. Reinhart & Carlos A. Végh, 2003. "The Unholy Trinity of Financial Contagion," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(4), pages 51-74, Fall.
    19. Detzler, Miranda Lam, 1999. "The performance of global bond mutual funds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(8), pages 1195-1217, August.
    20. Shleifer, Andrei, 2000. "Inefficient Markets: An Introduction to Behavioral Finance," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198292272.
    21. Martin Cherkes, 2012. "Closed-End Funds: A Survey," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 431-445, October.
    22. Kris James Mitchener & Marc D. Weidenmier, 2007. "The Baring Crisis and the Great Latin American Meltdown of the 1890s," NBER Working Papers 13403, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Cassis,Youssef, 1994. "City Bankers, 1890–1914," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521441889.
    24. Burton G. Malkiel, 2003. "The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Critics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 59-82, Winter.
    25. Josh Lerner & Peter Tufano, 2011. "The Consequences of Financial Innovation: A Counterfactual Research Agenda," NBER Chapters, in: The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity Revisited, pages 523-575, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. David Chambers & Elroy Dimson, 2013. "Retrospectives: John Maynard Keynes, Investment Innovator," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 213-228, Summer.
    27. William N. Goetzmann & Andrey D. Ukhov, 2006. "British Investment Overseas 1870-1913: A Modern Portfolio Theory Approach," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 10(2), pages 261-300.
    28. Obstfeld,Maurice & Taylor,Alan M., 2005. "Global Capital Markets," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521671798.
    29. repec:pri:cepsud:91malkiel is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Michael Bordo & Barry Eichengreen & Daniela Klingebiel & Maria Soledad Martinez-Peria, 2001. "Is the crisis problem growing more severe?," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 16(32), pages 52-82.
    31. Irving Stone, 1999. "The Global Export of Capital from Great Britain, 1865–1914," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-333-98377-5.
    32. Goetzmann, William N. & Rouwenhorst, K. Geert (ed.), 2005. "The Origins of Value: The Financial Innovations that Created Modern Capital Markets," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195175714.
    33. Green, Christopher J. & Maggioni, Paolo & Murinde, Victor, 2000. "Regulatory lessons for emerging stock markets from a century of evidence on transactions costs and share price volatility in the London Stock Exchange," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 577-601, April.
    34. Fink, Matthew P, 2008. "The Rise of Mutual Funds: An Insider's View," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195336450.
    35. Grossman, Richard S., 2002. "New Indices Of British Equity Prices, 1870–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(1), pages 121-146, March.
    36. Barry Eichengreen, 2004. "The Regulator’s Dilemma: Hedge Funds in the International Financial Architecture," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Akira Kohsaka (ed.), New Development Strategies, chapter 10, pages 201-228, Palgrave Macmillan.
    37. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2010. "Luck versus Skill in the Cross‐Section of Mutual Fund Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1915-1947, October.
    38. Rutterford, Janette, 2009. "Learning from one another's mistakes: investment trusts in the UK and the US, 1868–1940," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 157-181, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Barry Eichengreen & Asmaa El-Ganainy & Rui Esteves & Kris James Mitchener, 2019. "Public Debt Through the Ages," NBER Working Papers 25494, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Chambers, David, 2019. "Commodity Option Pricing Efficiency before Black Scholes Merton," CEPR Discussion Papers 13975, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. David Chambers & Rasheed Saleuddin, 2020. "Commodity option pricing efficiency before Black, Scholes, and Merton," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(2), pages 540-564, May.
    4. Bogle, David A. & Coyle, Christopher & Turner, John D., 2020. "Capital market development over the long run: The portfolios of UK life assurers over two centuries," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2020-09, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    5. Bogle, David & Coyle, Christopher & Turner, John D., 2020. "Capital Market Development Over the Long Run: The Portfolios of UK Life Assurers Over Two Centuries," QBS Working Paper Series 2020/11, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Business School.
    6. Kim Oosterlinck, 2013. "Sovereign debt defaults: insights from history," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 29(4), pages 697-714, WINTER.
    7. Acheson, Graeme G. & Campbell, Gareth & Turner, John D., 2015. "Who financed the expansion of the equity market? Shareholder clienteles in Victorian Britain," QUCEH Working Paper Series 15-07, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    8. David A Bogle & Christopher Coyle & John D Turner, 2022. "Capital market development over the long run: the portfolios of UK life assurers over two centuries [Corporate ownership and control in Victorian Britain]," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 26(3), pages 370-398.
    9. Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos & Janette Rutterford & Carolyn Keber, 2020. "UK investment trust portfolio strategies before the First World War," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 785-814, August.
    10. Annaert, Jan & Verdickt, Gertjan, 2021. "Go active or stay passive: Investment trust, financial innovation and diversification in Belgium's early days," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rui Esteves, 2011. "The Political Economy of Global Financial Liberalisation in Historical Perspective," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _089, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    2. Richard S. Grossman, 2015. "Bloody foreigners! Overseas equity on the London Stock Exchange, 1869–1929," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(2), pages 471-521, May.
    3. Alquist, Ron & Chabot, Benjamin R. & Yamarthy, Ram, 2022. "The price of property rights: Institutions, finance, and economic growth," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. Rui P. Esteves, 2011. "The Political Economy of Global Financial Liberalisation in Historical Perspective," Oxford University Economic and Social History Series _089, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    5. Grossman, Richard, 2017. "Stocks for the Long Run: New Monthly Indices of British Equities, 1869-1929," CEPR Discussion Papers 12121, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Richard S.Grossman, 2017. "Beresford’s Revenge: British equity holdings in Latin America, 1869-1929," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2017-003, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.
    7. Elton, Edwin J. & Gruber, Martin J., 2013. "Mutual Funds," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1011-1061, Elsevier.
    8. Andrew Clare & Mariana Clare, 2019. "An examination of ex ante fund performance: identifying indicators of future performance," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 175-195, May.
    9. Ferson, Wayne E., 2013. "Investment Performance: A Review and Synthesis," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 969-1010, Elsevier.
    10. Christopher M. Meissner, 2013. "Capital Flows, Credit Booms, and Financial Crises in the Classical Gold Standard Era," NBER Working Papers 18814, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Grossman, Richard, 2017. "Beresford’s Revenge: British equity holdings in Latin America, 1869-1929," CEPR Discussion Papers 12042, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Christiane Goodfellow & Dirk Schiereck & Steffen Wippler, 2013. "Are behavioural finance equity funds a superior investment? A note on fund performance and market efficiency," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(2), pages 111-119, April.
    13. Ding, Jing & Jiang, Lei & Liu, Xiaohui & Peng, Liang, 2023. "Nonparametric tests for market timing ability using daily mutual fund returns," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    14. Blake, David & Caulfield, Tristan & Ioannidis, Christos & Tonks, Ian, 2014. "Improved inference in the evaluation of mutual fund performance using panel bootstrap methods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 183(2), pages 202-210.
    15. Du, Ding & Huang, Zhaodan & Blanchfield, Peter J., 2009. "Do fixed income mutual fund managers have managerial skills?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 378-397, May.
    16. Jeff Madura & Martina K. Bers, 2002. "The performance persistence of foreign closed‐end funds," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), pages 263-285.
    17. Lars Hornuf & Gül Yüksel, 2022. "The Performance of Socially Responsible Investments: A Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9724, CESifo.
    18. Choi, Paul Moon Sub & Choi, Joung Hwa, 2018. "Is individual trading priced in stocks?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 76-92.
    19. Chen, Li-Wen & Adams, Andrew & Taffler, Richard, 2013. "What style-timing skills do mutual fund “stars” possess?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 156-173.
    20. Huij, Joop & Derwall, Jeroen, 2008. ""Hot Hands" in bond funds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 559-572, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial globalisation; Institutional investors; Emerging markets; Contagion; Pre-1913;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:52:y:2014:i:c:p:1-21. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622830 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.