Lehmans' third anniversary: Are investors better off?

Three years on and a rundown of the events of 15 September 2008 is still breathtaking. Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank in the biggest economy in the world, filed for bankruptcy; the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 2.5% – 283 points – by early afternoon. By 17 September, the index had dropped a combined 800 points. In the UK, the FTSE 100 plunged by more than 5% on the news and closed down 3.9%, wiping £50bn off the value of Britain’s top 100 companies. Unknown to many UK investors, Lehmans backed thousands of their structured products. When it collapsed, de...