Risk / return
Compare historical return with the volatility taken to achieve it. Explore asset classes ETF proxies on an interactive risk–return chart.
Broad commodities has the highest annualised return (57.52%). Cash has the lowest annualised volatility (0.20%) among the covered proxies. These are historical outcomes, not forecasts.
Asset classes · Risk / return
1Y · Daily · 253 common observations
2025-10-15 to 2026-10-16 · USD · Daily · 253 observations · Annualised
Dashed line: US 3-month Treasury yield · 4.26% · 2026-10-16. Current reference, not historical cash return.
Methodology and proxy coverage
Return and volatility are annualised percentages. Return measures compounded growth; volatility measures return variability. Each dot represents one named ETF proxy. Greater historical volatility does not guarantee greater return.
Source: adjusted USD closing prices for US-listed ETFs. Country proxies represent investable equity markets; sector proxies represent US equity sectors. These are representative exposures, not exhaustive constituent indices. Prices refresh with the US-market job; rankings remain separate monthly snapshots.
Calculation, sampling and interpretation
Default sampling matches the platform: 3M, YTD, 1Y and 2Y are daily; 5Y is weekly; MAX is monthly. Sampling can be changed independently. Weekly observations end on Friday, monthly observations at month-end; incomplete periods are excluded. MAX uses common available history, where meaningful history beyond five years is available.
Peers use aligned return intervals and a common observation window. Missing returns are not filled with zero. We require 20 daily, 8 weekly or 6 monthly common observations; missing, insufficient and relatively stale histories are excluded and disclosed with the chart.
For n periodic returns r and annualisation factor A: return = [∏(1 + r)]^(A/n) − 1; volatility = sample standard deviation(r) × √A, with n − 1 in the variance denominator. A is 252 daily, 52 weekly or 12 monthly. The volatility axis fits the observed range with a lower bound of zero; negative returns remain visible vertically.
The horizontal dashed reference is a dated three-month US Treasury par yield from the official Treasury feed. It is a current annual yield, not a historical cash return or a forecast of returns at higher volatility. Missing rates are not replaced with assumptions.
Adjusted prices include provider split and distribution adjustments. Full histories are reconciled monthly and can be revised. USD results reflect ETF fees, currency exposure and US trading hours; today’s proxy selection does not recreate historical constituent membership. Historical comparisons are descriptive, not investment recommendations.
Which proxies are included?
Asset classes
Equities (SPY) · Fixed income (AGG) · Real estate (VNQ) · Gold (GLD) · Broad commodities (DBC) · Cash (BIL)
Sectors
Technology (XLK) · Financials (XLF) · Health Care (XLV) · Consumer Discretionary (XLY) · Consumer Staples (XLP) · Energy (XLE) · Industrials (XLI) · Materials (XLB) · Utilities (XLU) · Real Estate (XLRE) · Communication Services (XLC)
Countries
United States (SPY) · Japan (EWJ) · United Kingdom (EWU) · Germany (EWG) · France (EWQ) · China (MCHI) · Hong Kong (EWH) · Singapore (EWS)
Volatility definition · Rankings methodology · Published 2026-10-17