A Comparative Analysis Of The Performance Of Various Financial Asset Classes Over The Past Decade: A Case Study Of Ghana

ABSTRACT

The study sought to provide a comparative analysis of the performance of the various financial asset classes over the past decade in Ghana. The study employed a quantitative technical trend analysis on bond, stocks and Mfund over a period of 10years. Also, the econometric model of GARCH (1,1) was employed to calculate the risk orientation of the various asset classes. From the results, the study found that the three classes of assets employed for the study, that is bond, stocks and Mfund on the average seems to be performing well on the financial market over the years. Comparatively the study also found that of all the three asset class bonds in Ghana offered by the government is considered as the safest and the best performing financial asset of all investment packages with a less risk orientation. Evidently, assets that guarantees higher returns equally has a higher risk orientation. The study revealed that the bond market provides a longer period of maturity and rewards in Ghana. The riskiness of the bond market seems to rise high than that of the stock and mutual funds as it also rewards investors with higher returns. It is recommended that fund managers of various asset class should be effectively monitored and regulated to adhere to the ethical principle of the profession. This will bring sanity within the investment environment to prevent undue advantage fund managers take as a result of their agency relationship with investors. This reduces the trust within the investment environment.