Banking on innovation: Listed and non-listed equity investing, evidence from société générale de Belgique, 1850–1934

Gertjan Verdickt and Marc Deloof

Explorations in Economic History, 2024, vol. 93, issue C

Abstract: Société Générale de Belgique was the world's first universal bank. It pioneered another innovation: investing in non-listed equity. We use hand-collected data to show that the bank earned significant positive risk-adjusted returns from 1850 to 1934. This offset its flat return on the listed equity portfolio and underperforming bond portfolio. Other Belgian universal banks followed this strategy. As such, we argue that this innovation laid the groundwork for other financial institutions to invest in listed and non-listed assets.

Keywords: Private equity; Universal banking; Holding companies; Asset management; Banking history (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:exehis:v:93:y:2024:i:c:s0014498324000299

DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2024.101593

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