IndiView Chart of the Week: Chart Crime

Let’s talk about chart crimes.

In our opinion, a chart crime happens when something looks data-rich but tells you very little—or worse, when the data is presented in a misleading way.

Take the chart below. It’s from a well-known fixed income investment firm. To be fair, we are also including a chart from the same piece that we liked later on. But first, the offender:

At first glance, you might say: “What’s wrong with this? They’re just expressing their views on different parts of the bond market.” Fair question.

But here’s the issue: How can you be overweight something without being underweight something else?

This firm favors U.S. mortgage-backed securities, CMBS, U.S. and European credit, and alternatives. Great. But in a real portfolio, if we want to add more of those, we have to trim from somewhere else. You can’t be overweight in certain things while remaining neutral to everything else. It doesn’t work that way.

So what’s the investor supposed to do with this? The chart offers a list of things to like but no indication of what to sell or reduce. That makes it non-actionable—and in our view, a chart crime.

This reminds me of “snub” culture in sports. Each year, writers release lists of players who were “snubbed” from All-Star or All-Pro teams. But they rarely tell you who should’ve been left off to make room. There are only so many spots—if someone was snubbed, someone else needs to be removed.

It is understandable for sports writers to hold back (relationships, reputations, etc.), but that doesn’t apply to investment charts. If you’re offering guidance, offer a trade-off. Don’t just point to the positives—tell us what needs to be reduced to make room. That’s where value is created.

This firm isn’t alone. On the equity side, sell-side research is notorious for this. There are far more stocks rated “buy” or “overweight” than “sell” or “underweight.” In fact, “neutral” is often code for “we don’t really like it but don’t want to say so.”

To be clear, this chart was just one slide in a larger deck, so we’d call it a chart misdemeanor, not a felony. And to give credit where it’s due, here’s one from the same report that we believe worked well:

While it doesn’t make recommendations, it does provide clear, useful information. It shows performance data, current yields, and credit spreads (the yield received for taking on default risk)—all in one view. For someone familiar with bond markets, this kind of chart helps support active allocation decisions. It’s readable, relevant, and built for action.

At IndiWealth, we don’t flag these chart offenses just to be snarky (well, maybe just a little). The reason is simple: clarity matters. Our goal is to deliver investment guidance that’s clear, honest, and actionable. We choose clarity over confusion for one key reason—clients who understand what we’re trying to accomplish are more likely to stick with their plan and less likely to have misunderstandings about their goals and risks.

If you’d like to learn more about our approach, feel free to reach out at:
👉 https://indiwealthmanagement.com/contact/