Looking back over the last decade, it has certainly been a challenging time for investments. The “Noughties” were not so nice - a totally lost decade for equities.

So what about the next decade? Where do I think we will be in ten years when we ALL have 2020 vision?!

Firstly if history repeats itself (and I believe it often does) then after a terrible decade for investing such as 1970 to 1980 you are usually rewarded with a great one, 1980 to 1990.

I know that right now it is difficult to see the positive when we are still reeling from recession but I want to focus on two themes that I believe will drive markets to fresh highs.

Technology

It was of course the tech crash that started off this last decade so badly but the overriding theme is now gathering pace. Technophiles are now a decade older and have more disposable income to spend on the latest gadgets and phones.

In many households now there are more PCs and more mobile phones than there are people. The rate of replacement is staggering as technology keeps improving and prices falling. The big story of the last few years has been Apple with iPods and then the iPhone. Apple shares recently hit an all time high.

Next, I believe it will be entertainment centres in your own home. Apple TV may be the next big thing. Sky+ is a major breakthrough but is far short of its potential and the next step will be digital TVs that can store thousands of hours of programmes, integrated with the BBC iPlayer and the like. TVs will become full computers with integrated hard drives.

There are billions of TVs that will need to be replaced. They thought the tech boom was coming in the 1990s and they were right, just a little premature.

China and the rest of the emerging world.

China is mind blowing. Their car market will overtake the US this year despite their high rural population. Their spend on infrastructure, their cash reserves, their emerging middle class. All these numbers are stunning.

They have just overtaken Japan to be the world’s second largest economy. In 2005 they overtook Britain to become the 5th largest. How long before they are the biggest is unknown but at this pace it could be quicker than many people believe. 

Combine these two themes, technology and a massive emerging market for it and you get an explosion of growth that could take world markets on a fantastic bull run over the next 10 years.

FTSE at 14000+ in 2020? It’s a vision of the future I like very much and it is my personal estimate. I would also back China and the Nasdaq to be the best performing market areas.