Is Farmland As Good As Gold?

Table 3

Comparison of low-risk portfolios under five scenarios (1972–2009).

Portfolio performance for low-risk category
(6% investment yield)
Scenario:	1	2	3	4	5
Investment yield	6%	6%	6%	6%	6%
Risk (std deviation)	2.2%	2.0%	1.9%	1.7%	1.8%
Coef. of variation	.37	.34	.31	.29	.29
Portfolio weights:
T-Bills	23.6%	34.6%	40.3%	42.9%	42.0%
Long bonds	64.3%	59.4%	51.0%	42.4%	42.8%
F-REIT	12.1%	—	—	8.1%	9.6%
Gold	—	—	2.9%	1.0%	—
REITs	—	0.1%	1.2%	0.8%	0.6%
Stocks	—	5.8%	—	—	—