After all, the investment - grade bond market (represented in the table by the Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate bond index) posted the lowest annual return more
often than any other asset class, nine times over this 20 - year stretch.
Gov» t bonds really do have a negative correlation to equities during periods in which equities underperform (timing is
often slightly delayed), and that makes them more valuable
than any
other asset class as a diversifier.