Sasrhas, on FEI, has a 290 investment and ca. 360 return. I haven't looked into the actual return, but it highly depends on the tax rate. Mine being 23% I would think I gain gold rather those lose, then again I haven't taken the time to truly figure out the numbers.
Again, a positive return in a city.
I just invested in Chesney:
You have now invested 370 gold in this region, boosting production by 69 % to 169 %. Your advisors hope for a return of ca. 420 gold, if everything works well.
Positive returns in a city.
Looks pretty consistent to me. Investments yield positive returns in cities; might not elsewhere.