A while back I was reading a stack of financial books, and in one of them the author (I think it was William Bernstein) wrote that he'd had the opportunity to interview a member of one of these families, and asked how they'd managed to hold onto their wealth for 600+ years.
The answer was "art, gold, and land." If you had a rich estate back then and a foreign army was on the way, you could roll up your art, put your gold in sacks, and ride away. The title to the land would still be yours, and after the foreign army is expelled you just return home with your stuff.
I can think of some risks with this plan, and some improvements that could be made today, but basically these people aren't chasing returns, they think about preserving wealth for the long haul through worst-case scenarios.
The answer was "art, gold, and land." If you had a rich estate back then and a foreign army was on the way, you could roll up your art, put your gold in sacks, and ride away. The title to the land would still be yours, and after the foreign army is expelled you just return home with your stuff.
I can think of some risks with this plan, and some improvements that could be made today, but basically these people aren't chasing returns, they think about preserving wealth for the long haul through worst-case scenarios.