Asset classes at a glance
Shares are stakes in companies. Bonds are money lent at a fixed rate of interest. The money market is money lent for a very short time. Gold is a commodity that pays nothing while you hold it.
The US series in the Atlas show how differently they developed.
Over a long time the asset classes ended up very far apart, and the higher return came with deeper setbacks.
From US$100 at the end of 1927, US shares with dividends grew to US$1,157,599 by the end of 2025, the money market to US$2,578.
US series of the Atlas, year ends 1927 to 2025, nominal in US dollars.
Questions people ask
Which asset classes are there?
The best known are shares, bonds, the money market and commodities such as gold, with property beside them. Shares are stakes in companies, bonds and the money market are money lent out, and gold pays nothing while you hold it.
Have shares earned more than bonds over the long run?
In the US series of the Atlas, yes, and by a wide margin over many decades. The higher return came with deeper setbacks, and a finding about the past is not a forecast.
What is the money market?
Money lent for a very short time, in the United States for example to the state for three months. The series in the Atlas uses such three-month Treasury bills.
Source: Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern, histretSP, as of 2025, retrieved 2026-11-09 · World Bank, Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), Gold, ab 1960, und U.S. Geological Survey, Data Series 140 (Gold), 1900 bis 1959, as of 2025, retrieved 2026-11-09 · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U (CUUR0000SA0), as of 2025, retrieved 2026-11-09
What $100 became in each asset class, nominal and adjusted for prices.
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Education, not advice. Disclaimer