These illustrations were shown in the January/February 1999 issue of Bloomberg Wealth Manager in an article entitled Getting Diversified. The article explains how owners of large amounts of a single stock pool their resources in exchange funds to diversify their holdings without incurring large capital gains.

In the illustrations, each of the participants brings a single ingredient (their stock). They mix them together and voila! Cake for everyone!

These illustrations have been used by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund, or TIAA-CREF. They tend to use the acronym for obvious reasons.

The report card was used in the November 1998 article The TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds - One Year Later. These six funds apparently have done quite well (the car cruising skyward) while giving investors a wide choice of options (the chocolate box) to balance their portfolio (the seesaw).