28 September 2008: Benelux governments rescue Fortis
Over a weekend, the governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg agreed to inject about 11.2 billion euros into Fortis, a major banking and insurance group weakened by its share of the ABN Amro takeover and by crisis losses. The rescue did not hold. Within days the Dutch government took over the Dutch operations, and the Belgian bank was later sold to BNP Paribas. Shareholders lost most of their money.
The lesson: A big acquisition made at the top of a cycle can sink even a large, established company.
What it meant for investors
$1,000 in Fortis at the start of 2008 → $55.56 today, vs $4,626 in the S&P 500.
We start the clock at the start of 2008, the year it happened. That is a loss of $944, while a plain index fund over the same years made $3,626.
What Fortis teaches: A transformational acquisition made at the top of a credit cycle can turn a solid company into a casualty, as size and ambition multiply risk.
| Bought in | Price then | Worth today | S&P 500 would be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | $18.00 | $55.56 | $4,626 |
| 2010 | $1.00 | $1,000 | $6,071 |
| 2012 | $1.00 | $1,000 | $5,312 |
green = beat the S&P 500 · red = lost money
What if you bought Fortis? Every starting year and the full story →
Could you have called it at the time? The wheel picks the year, you pick the position, ten seconds a pick.
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