During the same time frame high-yield bonds slumped 26% and bank loans fell 24%, while 5-year Treasuries gained 16%, according to our research (municipal bonds, another high-quality fixed income asset class, returned 9% over the same time span, as measured by the BarCap 5-year Municipal Bond Index).

FORBES: Are Your Bond Holdings Raising Your Portfolio's Risk Profile?

The BlackRock segment manages assets on behalf of institutional and individual investors worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, multi-asset class, alternative and cash management separate accounts and funds, including iShares.

FORBES: #169 PNC Financial Services

Not that you need to deprive yourself of yields if you want to get into fixed-income, an asset class as a whole that has flexed its muscles of late, but you would have had to take on some credit risk.

FORBES: Ford And Icahn Look Like Better Bond Bets Than Uncle Sam

In the mid 1990s, emerging market fixed income was still just a niche asset class, which was mainly traded by appointment.

FORBES: Outside Of Treasurys, Emerging Market Debt World's Best Buy

Asset class rebalancing is used to return a portfolio back to its fixed target allocation.

FORBES: Choices in Portfolio Rebalancing

Certain types of fixed income funds are required to only hold AAA rated debt, but US Treasurys are considered a separate asset class.

FORBES: How Will Market React To US Downgrade?

In fact, any asset class with risk directly tied to developed economies has generally been forgotten in favor of hard assets or fixed income instruments with negative real rates but an abundance of safety.

FORBES: The Latest In A Long String Of Monumental Individual Investor Mistakes