Review: The Callan Periodic Table of Investment Returns 1995-2014

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Callan Associates has updated their famous Periodic Table of Investment Returns with data for 2014. It is interesting to review this chart every year and analyze how markets performed across the world.

The Callan Periodic Table of Investment Returns for 2014 is shown below:

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Callan Table of Investment Returns 1995 To 2014

Source: Callan Associates

A few observations:

  • For 2014, the U.S. market as represented by the S&P 500 was the best performer with a price return of 13.69%.
  • The MSCI indices for emerging markets and EAFE were down by 1.82% and 4.99% respectively.
  • This chart once again shows the importance of diversification. For example, bonds returned a solid 5.97% last year compared to the disastrous performance of emerging market stocks.
  • Since the global financial crisis in 2008, the S&P 500 has has double digit growth every year except 2011. So investing in an index fund such the SPY ETF is a prudent strategy for some retail investors as opposing to trying to pick individual companies.
  • Emerging market equities had spectacular runs for five years from 2003 till 2007 but have lost their shine since the financial crisis as the global commodity boom ended. So the takeaway is that one cannot simply invest in an emerging fund for the long-term without making any changes. Identifying and selecting high-quality companies is a must in emerging markets.

Related ETFs:

  • iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend ETF (DVY)
  • SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY)
  • Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG)
  • SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF (MDYG)
  • iShares Russell Midcap Index Fund (IWR)
  • iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Indx (EEM)
  • SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
  • SPDR STOXX Europe 50 ETF (FEU)

Disclosure: No Positions

You may also want to checkout the Callan Table for 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

Download: The Callan Periodic Table of Investment Returns 1995-2014 (in pdf)

Related: The Callan Periodic Table of Investment Returns 2016: A Review

Foreign Students In U.S. Universities and Colleges

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The higher education industry one of the large industries in the U.S. The industry provides millions of jobs and more importantly creates billions of dollars worth of economic activity each year. For example, some college presidents make over $1.0 million per year in salary. All this money has to come from somewhere. One place where it usually comes from are the students.Tuition in U.S. universities continue to soar consistently year after year. For most of U.S. students the rising tuition leads to higher student loan debts.

One of the big source of revenue in terms of tuition and other charges for U.S. schools is foreign students. Hundreds of thousands of foreign students studying in these schools pay much higher tuition applicable to foreign students. Hence many universities prefer these students as they bring in much-needed cash to the university’s coffers.It is not unheard of some schools to reduce the number of domestic students in order to take in more foreign students.

In this post lets take a look at a few charts related to foreign students in U.S. higher education.

1) Top Countries of Foreign Students in U.S. universities:

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Top Countries of Foreign Students

2) Top Hometowns of Foreign Students:

Top Source Home Countries of Foreign Students

3)Top Hometowns of Foreign Students in STEM(Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics) programs:

Top Hometowns of STEM foreign students

Source:  The Geography of Foreign Students in U.S. Higher Education: Origins and Destinations by Neil G. Ruiz, Aug 2014, The Brookings Institution

Countries From Which China Imports Energy Resources

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As a emerging market superpower China is the largest consumer of many natural resource. China does not have huge crude oil resources and is a net importer of the black stuff.

The following chart shows the list of countries which supply crude oil and natural gas to China:

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China Energy Import Countries

 

Source: Fueling a New Order? The New Geopolitical and Security Consequences of Energy, April 15, 2014, The Brookings Institution

Saudi Arabia is the largest supplier of oil to China followed by Angola in Africa and Iran. Most of the crude oil and natural gas are shipped by sea to China.In the Western hemisphere Venezuela and Brazil are major source countries for China’s energy imports but not Canada.Since the U.S. and Canadian economies are highly integrated, Canada sends much of its crude oil to the U.S. via pipelines and rail making it the largest trading partner of the U.S. The U.S. does export oil to other countries due to a ban on exports.

The Top 10 Trade Partners of Greece

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Greece is on the southern end of Europe and has an archipelago of 2,000 islands. The economy is a medium size economy in Europe with an estimated GDP of $267.0 billion based on Purchasing Power Parity. Greece has democracy as the political system and a free market capitalist economy. One of the major negative factors for Greece is the size of the public sector in the economy.The public sector accounts for about 40% of the GDP.

The Top 10 Export Partners for Greece are shown below:

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Greece-Top 10 Export Partners

The top three export destinations for Greek products are Turkey, Italy and Germany. The major export products are oil and mineral fuels, aluminium and electrical machinery.

The Top 10 Import Partners for Greece are shown below:

Greece-Top 10 Import Partners

The top three source countries for imported goods are Russia, Germany and Italy.

Note: Data shown are 2012 data from the UN.

Source: Global Edge, Michigan State University