Investors who follow the financial media have been told by the likes of traders and hedge fund managers for years that buying and holding stocks no longer works.

Pundits like to cite the S&P 500 Index's cumulative total return of -9.10% from 2000-2009 as evidence. It even has a name: "The Lost Decade."

The chart above clearly shows the pundits are wrong. While the industry's traditional definition of long-term investing is five years or so, these cumulative returns span 20 years.

The S&P 500 Index is comprised of 11 sectors and 124 subsectors, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. We are focusing on the subsectors to show which industries performed the best over the period. 

There is only one technology subsector represented in the chart (Internet Services & Infrastructure). Keep in mind, tech stocks were in the midst of a huge sell-off in the first year of the 20 years captured in the chart. 

From 5/31/01-5/31/02, the S&P 500 Information Technology Index posted a total return of -29.79%, according to Bloomberg. The S&P 500 Index was down 13.85% over the same period. 

To put the returns in the chart into perspective, from 1926-2020 (95 years), the S&P 500 Index posted an average annual total return of 10.28%, according to Morningstar/Ibbotson Associates. 

The cumulative total returns for 12 subsectors in the chart ranged from 1,046.69% (Tobacco) to 3,354.52% (Footwear), according to Bloomberg. The S&P 500 Index posted a cumulative total return of 397.34% over the same period.  

Our takeaways from this snapshot are that investors can prosper with a buy and hold strategy and they do not have to necessarily overweight the newest, shiniest, most cutting-edge industries to make a buck.