The graph illustrates the amount of dollars which US people allocated to invest in funds of 4 sectors, namely property, gold, fine art and company shares between 1988 and 2014.
Overall, gold had the most US investors, while the amount of money which was spent for property was lower than the others in the given period. Additionally, four categories witnessed an upward trend from 1988 to 2014.
In 1988, investments in gold funds held a dominant position, with around 100 million US. Two years later, this figure slightly increased before dropping sharply to 50 million US in 1992. Over the next 15 years, there was a gradual increase in the amount of money spent on gold. Between 2006 and 2012, gold experienced a dramatic rise and reached a peak at 450 million US, which was followed by a fall to a low of just under 400 million US in 2014. Additionally, in 1998, the expenditure on property was 2 times lower than that of gold, with 100 million US and 50 million US respectively. After 1998, property investments gradually grew until 2006, then increased dramatically over the next 8 years.
Meanwhile, during the four years (1988-1992), the amount of money invested in fine art remained stable. However, over the following decade, investment fluctuated. After that period, the US saw a significant increase in fine art spending, reaching nearly 350 million US dollars in 2014. Besides that, in 1998, the company shares had the fewest investors compared to the other three. Six years later, spending on this category steadily rose and increased sharply to 150 million US 2 years later. During the remainder of this given period, investment in fine art by US citizens experienced gradual growth.