The history of investing
Investing, you’re probably hearing more and more about it. A few years ago, only large companies were involved in investing, but nowadays, this is different. An increasing number of consumers are choosing to have their assets work for them by starting to invest.
Because they’ve only been hearing about investing for a few years, many people think that this phenomenon is relatively new. The opposite is true actually; the history of investing goes back several hundred years. Are you curious about what this history looks like? Read on because on this page you can learn more about the history of investing.
The first issue of stock
As mentioned before, the history of investing goes back hundreds of years. The first stock was issued in the time of the Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company) (VOC). Before that time, investments were made but not like the ones we are used to now. The first real stock – which was neatly listed and included a certain return – were therefore issued in the time of the VOC.
The VOC needed a lot of money to go on trade missions. The trading company itself had a lot of money, but not enough to be able to pay for all the expensive trade missions. That is why it was decided to issue stock. The public got the chance to invest in the VOC and earn an attractive return, and the VOC collected enough money to set off with many ships.
Investing in the stock market for the first time
The first stock was issued in the time of the VOC, but in those days there were no stock exchanges. When more and more trade in stock and goods took place, the need arose to establish a central trading place. The first trading place in the Netherlands was established in 1611 in Amsterdam. Much later, in 1851, the Amsterdam Association for the Securities Trade was established. This association had to regulate the stock trading, which was already quite large at that time.
Markets were established not only in the Netherlands, but also in other countries. In the United States, for example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was launched in 1896. This is the oldest share index in the United States. The Dow Jones is still very important in the US.
The development of the stock price of the VOC, the first stock
Recent developments in the investment market
The investment market has developed considerably over the years. First of all, there are a lot of new investment products, including options, CFDs and even Bitcoins. For several years it has also been possible to invest money online. Because of this development in the investment market, investing has become increasingly popular among the ‘ordinary’ consumer. In the past only the richest people invested money, but this is now possible for everyone.
We are curious what the investment market will do in the future. Possibly there will be more investment products and there will be even more ways to invest your money. If we look at the first issue of stock and the investment market now, clearly a lot has changed.
A lot has changed since the arrival of the first stock market. What will the future bring us?
Auteur
Over Alex Mostert
When I was 16, I secretly bought my first stock. Since that ‘proud moment’ I have been managing trading.info for over 10 years. It is my goal to educate people about financial freedom. After my studies business administration and psychology, I decided to put all my time in developing this website. Since I love to travel, I work from all over the world. Click here to read more about trading.info! Don’t hesitate to leave a comment under this article.
