Top 20 best-performing funds and sectors so far in 2025

After an eventful start to the year, Sam Benstead looks into the best places to have been invested.

8th July 2025 11:03

Halfway through the year, on the surface investment markets appear calm. Global shares (measured in sterling) are flat, while US shares are down about 4%. Meanwhile, UK shares are up nearly 10% and European shares around 13%.

But look below the surface, and there have been some big winners, even against the backdrop of trade wars, international conflict and volatile inflation.

Invest with ii: SIPP Account | Stocks & Shares ISA | See all Investment Accounts

Starting with the top sectors, across both open-ended funds and investment trusts, the standout winner, according to Association of Investment Company (AIC) categories, is the UK Property Logistics trust sector, where the average return was 42.6% for the first six months of the year.

Alternative assets, and particularly those that aim to deliver an income for investors, performed well in the first half of the year: Infrastructure Securities trusts rose 20.1% on average, Renewable Energy Infrastructure trusts rose 17.3%, Property UK Healthcare trusts rose 16.8% and Property Securities trusts rose 11.5%.

Many of the trusts in these sectors have seen their discounts narrow (driving performance higher) due to rising confidence in the sector, linked to lower interest rates.

Another winning theme in the first half of the year was Latin America, with the open-ended and closed-ended funds in the sector rising 19.1% and 30.9% respectively.

Elsewhere, Latin American stocks have bounced back after being one of the worst-performing investment sectors in 2024. They have risen this year as trade war fears eased, and inflation has come down.

The other standout regional markets are the UK and Europe. The Europe investment trust sector has on average risen 18.2% this year, while the open-ended Europe ex-UK sector is up 12.9% and the Europe including UK sector is up 10.9%.

British shares are also thriving this year: the UK All Companies trust sector is up 12.8% and the UK Equity Income trust sector is up 11.6%.

European and UK shares have made a comeback as investors seek an alternative to the US, where the dollar has devalued and there is lots of uncertainty around tariffs. European shares also have attractive dividends yields, lower valuations than US companies, and are being boosted by government stimulus (particularly in Germany).

Commodities are another standout sector, driven higher by a rising gold price, which has boosted gold mining firms.

Gold is rising due to geopolitical uncertainty, but also a growing unease among investors that government debt is rising too fast – gold is a means to protect purchasing power as governments introduce more money into the economy.

Asian shares have also had a good start to the year. The China/Greater China investment trust sector has risen 12%, while the Japanese Smaller Companies trust sector is up 11.4%.

Fund sector	H1 performance (%)
IT Property UK Logistics	42.65
IT Latin America	30.89
IT European Smaller Companies	23.49
IT Infrastructure Securities	20.11
IA Latin America	19.13
IT Europe	18.18
IT Renewable Energy Infrastructure	17.27
IT Property UK Healthcare	16.83
IT Commodities & Natural Resources	15.57
IT UK Equity & Bond Income	15.18
IA European Smaller Companies	15.16
IT Debt Structured Finance	13.5
IA Europe Excluding UK	12.9
IT UK All Companies	12.77
IT China/Greater China T	12.13
IT UK Equity Income	11.6
IT Property Securities	11.53
IT Japanese Smaller Companies	11.4
IA Europe Including UK	10.88
IT Property UK Commercial	10.57

Source: FE FundInfo, 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2025. IA references the Investment Association open-ended fund sector and IT is for AIC investment trust sector. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Top 20 performing funds

Gresham House Energy Storage was the best investment fund in the first half of the year, with the trust’s shares rising 95.9%. Much of this return came from a narrowing of the discount to net asset value (NAV), from around -60% to -27% today. The trust owns battery assets around the UK and has rebounded due to a turnaround in revenue and profits, as well as a likely return of its dividend this year.

Gore Street Energy Storage rose 43.3%, also driven by a rebound in the renewable energy sector.

However, the most common theme among the top funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and investment trusts was exposure to gold and gold miners.

The winning funds in this sector were Golden Prospect Precious Metals, SVS Baker Steel Gold & Precious Metals, HAN AuAg Gold Mining UCITS ETF, Jupiter Gold And Silver, YFS Charteris Gold and Precious Metals, Ninety One Global Gold, iShares Gold Producers UCITS ETF, BlackRock Gold & General, SVS Sanlam Global Gold & Resources and WS Ruffer Gold.

They have risen between 70.6% (Golden Prospect Precious Metals) and 37% (Ruffer Gold) this year.

The gold price rose from $2,624 (£1,930) an ounce to $3,303 an ounce – a 26% gain – during the first six months of the year, but many funds performed better.

This is because funds can invest in a mix of gold and silver metals, as well as precious metal mining stocks. Generally, mining stocks rise faster during a gold bull run than the metal itself, but fall faster when the gold price falls.

However, mining shares also have stock-specific risk, including the risk that mines will produce less gold than anticipated or there could be interference from governments in emerging markets.

Among the other fund winners so far in 2025 are Seraphim Space Investment Trust, Amundi Euro Stoxx Banks and iShares MSCI Poland UCITS ETF.

Seraphim Space Investment Trust invests in listed and unlisted space-related shares, such as satellite and computing stocks. While shares have rebounded strongly this year, the trust has still not reached its July 2021 offering price. It listed shares at the peak of demand for high-growth, but unproven, tech stocks and then fell considerably in 2022.

Amundi Euro Stoxx Banks returned 48.4% in the first half of the year. European bank shares have rallied due to strong corporate results, the appeal of their large dividend yields, and attractive valuations compared with US rivals.

Another big theme in Europe was Polish shares performing well, with the iShares MCSI Poland Ucits ETF returning 37.7%. The Polish economy is expected to grow 3.2% in 2025 and 3.1% in 2026, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is ahead of the 1.4% expected GDP growth for Europe broadly, and 1.1% in the UK.

Fund/trust	H1 performance (%)
Gresham House Energy Storage Ord (LSE:GRID)	95.92
Golden Prospect Precious Metal Ord (LSE:GPM)	70.59
Seraphim Space Investment Trust Ord (LSE:SSIT)	60
Kistos Holdings Ordinary Shares (LSE:KIST)	58.46
SVS Baker Steel Gold & Precious Metals	56.19
Warehouse REIT Ord (LSE:WHR)	51.64
AuAg Gold Mining ETF GBP (LSE:ESGP)	48.82
Amundi Euro Stoxx Banks	48.36
Jupiter Gold And Silver	47.12
Optima Health (LSE:OPT)	46.32
YFS Charteris Gold and Precious Metals	45.14
Ninety One Global Gold	43.53
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund Ord (LSE:GSF)	43.32
iShares Gold Producers UCITS ETF	42.07
BlackRock Gold & General	40.8
Quilter Investors Precious Metals Equity	40.18
SVS Sanlam Global Gold & Resources	37.97
WS Ruffer Gold	37.82
iShares MSCI Poland UCITS ETF	37.72

Source: FE FundInfo, 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2025. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.

Get more news and expert articles direct to your inbox