May 2022

Gold and silver were the outstanding performing assets in the first quarter of this year, far surpassing other investments and asset classes.

Silver was the top performer of the 11 asset classes for which data are gathered. Silver had a 7.63% increase in value, measuring performance as the percent change from the previous quarter’s end to the end of the first quarter.

Gold came in second, at 6.60%.

The next closest was cash, at 0.61%, with the non-precious metal assets returning between that 0.61% on cash to a -7.53% loss in Small Capital Equity.

While silver and gold won the roses for their first quarter performance, it must be remembered that the best performing assets in one period tend to lag in the subsequent period, because they have done so well and other assets often play catch up. Often, but not always. A look at gold and silver’s performances in the years 2006 – 2011 shows that high relative returns can be persistent.

This is important since today is very similar to 2006 – 2011, a period of incredible economic and financial market upheaval the after-effects of which are still reverberating in the global economy and financial markets.

CPM first produced the Quilt Chart of Investment Returns Including Gold and Silver in January 2022, covering the years 2000 through 2021. We plan to update this on a quarterly basis from now on.

Sources: Bloomberg, CPM Group.
Large Cap Equity – S&P 500
Small Cap Equity – Russell 2000
Developed ex-U.S. Equity – MSCI World ex USA,
Emerging Market Equity – MSCI Emerging Markets
U.S. Fixed Income – Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index,
High Yield – Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond Index
Global ex-U.S. Fixed Income – Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex US Bond Index,
Real Estate – FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed REIT Weighted Net Total Return Index
T-bill – 90 Day.
Gold and Silver, Comex Nearby Active Contracts
Annual Returns are percent changes year-end to year-end. T-Bills are year-end.