I was tempted to write a simple yes / no on the bond fund as part of the portfolio but my educationist in me compel me to write a longer "cheong-hei" piece for educational purpose.
I) Inveesting is an art. In art first we are taught to draw a line. A line is one dimensional. In investing, the first line / dimension we learn is Return of Investment (ROI) =
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[ Current value - Initial capital ) / (Initial capital) ] x 100 in percentage basis
II) Once we are good, we learn to draw a the width and length to make a simple diagram, e.g., a rectangle (two dimension object). In investing, the second dimension is time. ROI per annum also called Compounded Annualised Growth Rate (CAGR) / Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
III) But in real life, object are 3D, never 2D. So in art we learn to add depth to a drawing to produce drawing and the outcome is a 3D drawing that create realism. In investing, the 3D is risk. The conventional way of measuring risk is taking the standard-deviation (Std-Dev) of a series of measurement over a defined period of time.
---- to be continued ---