Ten years ago, Russian magazine «Finance» began an experiment whereby a monkey randomly selected an investment portfolio of Russian stocks, and the era's leading managers were asked to do the same. A decade later, professionals have added up how much each competitor has earned.
During this time the monkey’s portfolio grew by over 750%. According to specialists, the animal would have earned 1 million rubles in dividends (around $17 500), and the net worth of its portfolio increased from 1 million rubles (around $17 500) to 7.5 million rubles ($130 000).
Analyses also show that Russian unit investment trusts such as «Aton Pyotr Stolypin» would have grown by around 510%, while the «Raiffeisen stocks» would have gone up by around 390%.
Unfortunately, the former editor-in-chief of «Finance» magazine Oleg Anisimov has pointed out that this is not just the result of the monkey’s brilliance - it's also down to the fact that his independently-formed portfolio is free from the unit investment trusts’ expenses.