CASH deposits have delivered investors an average annual return more than 12 per cent better than shares for each of the past three financial years

While the share market wallows in another wave of uncertainty about a double-dip global recession, investors who fled to the safety of bank term deposits in 2007 are laughing all the way to the you-know-what

The average rate for a one-year term deposit offered by the four major banks has been 5.6 per cent over the past three years. Canstar Cannex data shows it was 6.53per cent in 2007-08, 5.04per cent in 2008-09 and 5.23 per cent in 2009-10. Compare this with the average annual return from the ASX 200 companies of -6.6 per cent for the three-year period.

An Australian Stock Report analysis shows average dividend share market income has ranged between 3.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent over the period, but it has been offset by heavy capital losses among many stocks