The Bureau of Historic Losses · Counterfactual Division
What if you'd bought the All Ordinaries in 2009?
The index limped into 2009 around 3,600, less than two years after touching 6,800, with the mining boom apparently over and the banks bracing for impact. Buying the whole Australian market here required ignoring a wall of headlines — and rewarded exactly that.
$100 on 2009-01-01, worth today
A$246
As of 2026-06-12, $100 of the All Ordinaries bought at 2009's open (A$3,656) is worth A$246 — 2.46×.
price return · index level · AUD
How much would $100 of the All Ordinaries bought in 2009 be worth today?
| You'd have put in | You'd have now | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| A$100 | A$246 | 2.46× |
| A$1,000 | A$2,464 | 2.46× |
| A$10,000 | A$24,636 | 2.46× |
Lump sum on the year's first trading day, tracking the index level (price return, before dividends), valued at the latest close. Past performance isn't a promise — it's a taunt.
What did the All Ordinaries do in 2009?
Opened
A$3,656
2009-01-01
Peaked
A$4,883
2009-12-30
Bottomed
A$3,112
2009-03-05
Closed
A$4,883
2009-12-30
These are the index's own closing levels (price return). Real index funds also pay dividends, so a true total-return figure would be higher still.
Would steady buying have beaten going all in?
A$91,100 deployed as $100 a week from 2009-01-01, under four temperaments — same money, different nerves.
| All in on day one | A$224,432 |
| Steady weekly buys | A$141,522 |
| Sold dips, rebought rallies | A$140,424 |
| Traded it perfectly | A$148,184 |
“Traded it perfectly” requires knowing the future. Nobody knew the future.
These were the round numbers. Run your real ones.
Your amount, your date, your certificate. Takes about a minute.
Calculate my failureAdjacent timelines