The more complex a data set, the more valuable an illustration.
Charting the correlation and variation per asset class from 2004 – mid 2015 quickly provides context to historical returns. Since it’s color coded by asset class, it’s easy (even fun?) to track through the years to see how, indeed, every asset class has cycles.
This hopefully reinforces for you the value of diversifying across your portfolio (click on chart to enlarge it).
Clients really like this chart. It helps contextualize not only the goal of diversification but also, as a result, achieving low correlation across asset classes.
(Source: Visual Capitalist)