Smarter Investing 3rd edn, 3rd Edition

11

Smarter insight – on-menu assets

The basic menu for the asset classes that we have decided to use – and those that will be excluded – was established in Chapter 6. It is summarised in Figure 11.1. This chapter provides a bit of a deeper insight into the ‘on-menu’ with comments on ‘off-menu’ asset classes and strategies covered in Chapter 12.

11.1 Return Engine asset classes

Before we dive into each of the asset classes in more depth, it makes sense to take a quick look at how different asset classes have performed in both risk and return terms. The challenge we have is that the datasets for global REITS and emerging market equities only go back as far as 1989 and 1988 respectively. However, with a little bit of common sense, we can glean ...