With the beginning of a new year, we thought it would be a good time to pass along an interesting chart to help us all understand The Big Picture as far as a history of investing and the economy goes.

The link at the bottom of the page will bring you to an historic and interactive chart on the economy and its’ various markets.

Of course, when planning one’s future there is always an element of uncertainty. However, one of the best places to start is to have a firm understanding of the past. Most of us know that equity markets have been the at the top of performance in the past and this will likely continue into the future, but at the cost of significant volatility(or negative years) along the way.

One interesting line on the chart to note is that of a Balanced Portfolio. This represents a mix of various equity markets and guaranteed investments that would be present in a typical Managed Balanced Portfolio. As you can see, this Balanced Portfolio has historically achieved a good portion of the returns of an all equity investment with much less volatility.

This prudent mix of various assets is one reason we have recommended a balanced portfolio for many of our clients; especially those looking to minimize the negative return years but are still looking at investing longer-term. While a Balanced mix isn’t the right fit for everyone it is a good place to start and then adjust your personal investment portfolio to suit your own time frame and tolerance for volatility.

If you have any questions please let us know.

http://investmentsillustrated.com/clients/agf/bigpicture/en/