Best- and worst-performing investments over 1, 3 and 5 years

We reveal which funds and companies have made and lost the most money in recent years.

Choosing investments is not easy. Pick the right one and you could end up reaching for the champagne after a triple-digit return. 

But put all your money into assets that end up failing spectacularly then you may end up losing everything virtually overnight.

Here we look at the best- and worst-performing companies, investment funds and sectors over one, three and five years.

Of course, the usual caveats apply here: past performance is no guarantee of future returns and you must never invest what you can’t realistically afford to lose.

Ready to invest but want to shield your returns from the taxman? Open a Stocks & Shares ISA with Hargreaves Lansdown now

Companies

Let’s start with individual companies. You can access these businesses' shares via a stockbroker or one of the many investment platforms. 

We focused on the performance of stocks in the blue-chip FTSE 100, which are the 100 biggest companies listed in the UK, in terms of their market capitalisations. 

The difference in returns was remarkable.

An investment in Rolls Royce Holdings would have risen by a remarkable 330.35% over the past three years to September 5, 2024. The stock price has been driven by the company's impressive growth.

However, if you’d put your money into Spirax Group, which delivered disappointing results, the value of your investment would have fallen by more than 50% over the same period.

Source: Hargreaves Lansdown, as of September 5, 2024.

Source: Hargreaves Lansdown, as of September 5, 2024.

Source: Hargreaves Lansdown, as of September 5, 2024.

Investment sectors

In the next stage of our analysis, we team up with Morningstar Direct to highlight the best and worst-performing investment sectors over the past one, three and five years.

Source: Morningstar Direct. Total Returns as of August-end 2024.

Source: Morningstar Direct. Total Returns as of August-end 2024.

Source: Morningstar Direct. Total Returns as of August-end 2024.

Investment funds

Of course, many people opt to put their money into an investment fund with a professional manager at the helm making all the decisions. These portfolios are the subject of our third and final section.

Putting money into a fund is regarded as being a generally safer option than investing in individual equities because you aren’t reliant on a handful of companies to perform.

However, that’s not to say you’re guaranteed success. Fund managers can make the wrong decisions and returns can also be affected by factors outside of their control.

For example, unexpected political or economic crises can adversely affect the share prices of even very well-run, profitable companies.

Source: Morningstar Direct. Total Returns as of August-end 2024.

Source: Morningstar Direct. Total Returns as of August-end 2024.

Source: Morningstar Direct. Total Returns as of August-end 2024.

Ready to invest but want to shield your returns from the taxman? Open a Stocks & Shares ISA with Hargreaves Lansdown now.

The information included in this article does not constitute regulated financial advice. You should seek independent, professional financial advice before making any investment decision.

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