This is what 'slow and steady wealth preservation' looked like in 2015

It was not a pretty year in markets.

Even the most talented money managers in the world suffered losses as stocks became volatile and investors sold out of junk bonds.

China and the rest of the emerging markets are slowing down, it's unclear for how long oil prices will stay so abnormally low, and prices for other commodities don't look set to rise any time soon either.

Business Insider asked some of Wall Street's brightest minds to send us their thoughts on what all this chaos meant to them.

Gary Kaminsky, a senior advisor at Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management and cohost of TV show Wall Street Week, sent us this chart - the iShares National AMT-Free Muni Bond.

It is boring, and that's the point.

Kaminsky called this a "perfect example of slow and steady wealth preservation" for tax conscious investors who want to depend on their investments for income.

"A year ago there is not a person who would would've expected this type of total return from municipals or other bond equivalents," he said.

He drew a contrast between municipals and Master Limited Partnerships, which are publicly-traded partnerships that typically invest in energy infrastructure. These stocks? which have proven attractive to investors seeking yield - have taken a beating due to the falling oil price.

Here's the Alerian MLP index, which tracks large- and mid-cap energy MLP stocks, over the last two years.

"A nice cliche would be that in the race of the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise again won out," Kaminsky said.

At least in 2015. We'll see what happens next year.