What a difference a year makes. The Institute for Private Investors (IPI) announced in an April 27 statement that respondents to its 2009 Family Performance Tracking survey reported that their portfolios had bounced back from dismal performance in 2008, with an average return of 17.3%.
In the spring of every year, the institute asks its members how their portfolios performed during the previous year. This year, 27% of IPI's 306 member families participated in the survey.
The statement said that only three respondents reported positive returns for 2008, and their allocation to cash was at an all-time high of 17%. By the end of 2009, however, they had just 8% in cash and were investing the rest: commodities (3%, up from 1% in 2008), global long-only equity (11%, compared with 7% in 2008) and municipals (13% allocation, versus 10% in 2008).
