How have markets fared in the last three years?

It has been an uncomfortable summer for investors as the credit crisis from 2008 continues to plague markets, this time in the guise of a sovereign debt crisis. But how have markets really coped?

Three years ago today, markets worldwide tumbled after one of the largest investment banks in the US filed for bankruptcy. Banking stocks across the world took a roasting as markets opened on the following Monday, with HBOS - now part of Lloyds, tumbling 17%, and peers also put through the wringer. Three years on, global markets are battling with another crisis - this time one caused by overindebted consumers across the Western world, sprawling fiscal deficits, and a lack of political union in Europe. But how have investors who stuck with stocks throughout the crisis fared? Belo...