Archive · 29 Dec 2025
Equities Outperform Gold in Long-Term Wealth Creation
Samir Arora, a fund manager, says that investing in stocks has made more money over a long time compared to gold.
He showed that the Nifty 50, a group of big Indian companies, has grown a lot more than gold and even the US stock market.
Anurag Singh said gold did better, but Samir said it depends on how you look at the numbers.
Samir also explained why some people's stock investments didn't grow as much as the big market numbers.
He said that the big companies in the Nifty didn't grow as fast as the whole economy, and that's why some people's investments didn't do as well.
He also said that starting and ending prices matter a lot for how much money you make.
Samir Arora argues that the Nifty 50 has outperformed gold and the S&P 500 over the long term, with a 1,922.38% return (11.78% CAGR) from 1998 to 2024.
Anurag Singh claimed gold has beaten Indian equities over the long run, citing a higher CAGR of 8.6% compared to the Nifty 50's 7.8% in dollar terms from 1994 to 2024.
Arora countered by showing that the NSE 500 index, a broader market index, has generated 2,590.1% returns (12.96% CAGR) in dollar terms over the same period.
The disconnect between Nifty returns and individual portfolios is due to the Nifty consisting of mature, stable businesses that didn't benefit as much from recent government capital expenditure.
India's GDP growth has outpaced Nifty earnings growth, with GDP growing at 10% CAGR compared to Nifty earnings growing at 8% CAGR from 2008 to 2025.
- Who
- Samir Arora (Helios Capital) and Anurag Singh (Ansid Capital)
- What
- Debate on long-term wealth creation between equities and gold
- When
- Data spans from 1994 to 2024, with a focus on 1998-2024
- Where
- India and global markets
- Why
- To compare the performance of equities and gold over long periods and understand the factors influencing market returns
- Nifty 50 Return (1998-2024)
- 1,922.38% (11.78% CAGR)
- Gold Return (1998-2024)
- 1,472.66% (10.74% CAGR)
- S&P 500 Return (1998-2024)
- 821.05% (8.57% CAGR)
- NSE 500 Return (1998-2024)
- 2,590.1% (12.96% CAGR)
- Gold Price Surge (2024)
- 80%
- Nifty 50 Return (2024)
- 10%
- India's GDP Growth (2008-2025)
- 10% CAGR
- Nifty Earnings Growth (2008-2025)
- 8% CAGR
