A timely reminder that gilts tend to be more stable than equities

The S&P 500 index is widely respected as the best single gauge index of US large cap stocks. Many investors will have at least part of their pension funds invested in S&P 500 index tracker funds, or in actively managed US funds that see the S&P 500 as a yardstick they seek to outperform a bit, without straying too far from its basic make up. Historically it has paid its investors handsomely, and if you had put your money into an S&P 500 tracker fund five years ago then you would have earned 17% a year, with your fund doubling over that time. Except that this year has been different, d...