The top performing funds of 2011

The top performing funds of 2011 were invested in gilts as fund rating firm Morningstar reveals in this report in trade paper Money Marketing.

The paper reports that "eight of the top 10 performers sat in the Investment Management Association UK gilts and UK index linked gilts sectors, with the Henderson long-dated gilt, managed by Phillip Apel and Mitul Patel the top performer, having risen by 24 per cent between January 1, 2011 and December 20, 2011."

Less than one in six UK funds reported a positive return this year, compared with around 97 per cent of funds the previous year as the global financial crisis took its toll.

The New York Times reports that the US market just about ended 2012 where it started with what it terms a 'wild ride' in between. The S&P 500 started the year at 1,257.60, finishing the year nearly dead even with its 2010 close of 1,257.64 though the Dow Jones Industrials average was up at 5.5 per cent on the year at 12,217.56.

The Daily Mail reports the 6 per cent fall in the FTSE 100 in 2011. It writes that: "A slight rise in the blue chip index today - up 5.5 points at 5572.3 - and a more solid performance in late December meant the index ended the year, posting a marginal loss 5.6 per cent. But it could have been far worse.

A year of turmoil saw the blue chip index trade as low as 4935 - 19 per cent below its starting point of 5899.9 - during a panic-stricken August, when the U.S. credit rating downgrade and fears over Italian and Spanish debt levels prompted a massive sell-off."

HereistheCity.com provides a useful summary of other markets with Europe, Asia and Emerging markets all recorded their first losses in a calendar year since 2008.

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