Great question on efficient portfolios by a student!

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Q.If stocks hold greater return on investment and if longer horizons prove their volatility to be equal to or less than bills and bonds would they always be the most attractive investment? Or is this just a selling  point for stocks over bills and bonds?
A.
Actually the volatility of equities is always greater, given their deviation from a normal distribution (more variance = more risk). In other words any time we have more predictability we have more certainty, and thus, less risk.
 The question now becomes do we want the most efficient portfolio (lowest risk per unit of return) or are we more risk seeking. Higher risk=less efficiency=more return .Think running play in football (most efficient per risk unit) as opposed to passing play (the longer the pass, the greater the potential and risk).
Image result for quarterback

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