Asset Class Performance 2003-2017
Stay on Track with Diversification
What This Chart Means to You: Investing is not unlike a healthy diet. You don’t eat the same thing every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (unless you’re a toddler), so make sure you have variety—in this case, a number of asset classes, such as International, REITs, Short-Term Bonds, etc. As you can see, even though an asset class is on the top one year (like Emerging Markets Value in 2007) that same asset class may be at the bottom the next year (Emerging Markets in 2008). Rather than trying to predict the winners and losers, keep a balanced, globally-diversified portfolio (like the one shown in white) to help you stay on track toward your goals. You won’t be the single best performer in any period, but you will also have fewer reasons to worry about poor returns from a single asset class. And that can help your portfolio get you where you want to go.