Time for UK equities to come back on the radar

Everyone knows that over the long run equities tend to out-perform other asset classes. UK equities do particularly well. According to Barclays Equity Gilt Study, the "real" (inflation adjusted) returns from 1900 to 2009 were 5% per annum from equities, 1% per annum from cash and 1.2% per annum from bonds (gilts). But as Keynes said: "In the long run, we are all dead." So what of short-term prospects? Investors are presently cautious, and nervous. This probably results from 10 years of being spooked by bursting bubbles, war, mega-scandals and, latterly, the downgrading of sovereign debt....