The Footsie is back to square one but some Asia-Pacific funds are up more than 1,000%: The 20 best performing investment trusts of the century so far
Asia-Pacific equities, British companies of all sizes and healthcare and technology: these are the themes showing the biggest returns this century for the top investment companies.
The London stock market has just breached the heights it obtained on the last day of 1999 and surpassed 7,000 for the first time, prompting muted celebrations in the City.
But small investors who bought into the right investment trusts at the dawn of the 21st century would be sitting on gains of more than 1,000 per cent - rather than being back to square one like the FTSE 100 index.
Nearly a third of the top performing investment trusts were focused in the Asian pacific region.
Investment trusts are often used by small investors to gain exposure to specific sectors globally or to certain geographical regions.
And the Association of Investment Companies' list of the twenty top performers from the last trading day of 1999 to the end of February 2015 [see table below] shows that certain themes dominate - not least the Asia-Pacific region.
Six of the top performing trusts were focused there and Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies (Asia Pacific excluding Japan Equities) showed an impressive 1,191 per cent gain over the 15 years and two months.
Its main holdings are in Indian, Singaporean, Chines and Taiwanese stocks.
Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies (which is mainly invested in Malaysian, Indian, Hong Kong and Thai equities) was the next best performer - its share price rose 1,079 per cent over the period. Aberdeen New Thai and JPMorgan India also made the top ten.
Even though British blue-chip shares, as represented by the FTSE 100 index, are back to where they were at the turn of the century, investing experts choosing carefully among British companies have had a rather better time.
Two leading investment trusts focusing on biotechnology and healthcare made the top 10.
UK-focused trusts took up several slots in the top 20, with Fidelity Special Values (UK All Companies sector, with big holdings in HSBC, DCC, Brewin Dolphin and Electronic Arts) showing a 537 per cent gain and Perpetual Income & Growth (UK Equity Income) up 503 per cent with its stakes in tobacco and pharmaceutical giants.
Sector-specialist trusts focusing on property and biotech and healthcare also made the top 10 performers.
Worldwide Healthcare and Biotech Growth (which have global portfolios that overlap slightly) were up 800 per cent and 607 per cent respectively, while TR Property was the third-best performer in the top 20 with a gain of 1,001 per cent from its investments in European commercial property.
Punters picking at random these so-called closed funds (to differentiate them from their open-ended unit trust counterparts - which are more commonly known as 'funds') might have fared less well though: the average gain for an investment trust over the period was 179 per cent.
Annabel Brodie-Smith, Communications Director, AIC, said: 'Over the last fifteen years, we’ve seen bull markets, bear markets and a serious recession.
'Despite all this, investment companies have ridden out the highs and lows of the stock market and delivered impressive returns over this fifteen year period.'
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