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Periodic Tables

The Periodic Table of Investment Returns depicts annual returns for eight asset classes, ranked from best to worst. Each asset class is color-coded for easy tracking. Well-known, industry-standard market indexes are used as proxies for each asset class.

The Periodic Table of Investment Returns - a play on the Periodic Table of the Elements - was authored by Jay Kloepfer, Director of Callan’s Capital Markets and Alternatives Research, in 1999. Mr. Kloepfer's vision of illustrating the importance of diversification resulted in a table of returns, similar to the Mendeleev creation. Our first Periodic Table of Investment Returns was distributed in 1999, for returns 1979 - 1998.

The Periodic Table is free and we give our permission for anyone to download, print, and use the Periodic Table in its current form. When you use of the Periodic Table, it may not be changed or altered in any way and must appear exactly as it does in this PDF version. Callan does not make any other versions of this document available for publication, production, or distribution, whatsoever, without exception.