10 best performing stock markets of 2013

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Investors brave enough to plough their cash into shares in Venezuela would have quintupled their money in 2013.

The Caracas Stock Exchange, which lists just 15 Venezuelan shares, has returned a whopping 452pc in 2013, according to data firm Morningstar.

But British investors have missed out on these stellar returns, as none of the 1,500-odd funds available to UK investors has a single penny in shares listed on the exchange.

The strong stock market returns have come despite the anti-capitalist policies of the former president, Hugo Chavez, who died in March. Mr Chavez was not a fan of the private sector and during his 14-year reign regularly seized company assets. In turn this discouraged foreign investors from putting their money into companies in the South American region.

But investors should be cautious about history repeating itself in 2014. The main reason for the Venezuelan stock market's strong performance has been the fear that the country is on the verge of a currency crisis, rather than investors warming to its new president, Nicolás Maduro.




Country and stock market Rise in share prices in 2013
Venezuela – Caracas Stock Exchange 452pc
Japan – Jasdaq index 51.1pc
Iceland – OMXI All Share 38.5pc
Zambia – Lusaka Stock Exchange 37.2pc
Ireland – Irish Stock Exchange 35.2pc
Nigeria – Nigerian Stock Exchange 34.9pc
Greece – Athens Exchange 34.5pc
Argentina – Mercado de Valores 33.9pc
US – Nasdaq index 33.7pc
Pakistan – Karachi Stock Exchange 31.8pc


There are a number of investment funds which backed some of the best stock markets over the past 12 months, data from FE Trustnet shows.

The data shows that Irish shares were popular, with a total of 246 funds having investments in the country. One fund with a big stake in Ireland is the Ignis European Smaller Companies fund, managed by Ian Ormiston. It has 15pc of its money in the country, some of it in Ryanair, the airline.

"The financial crisis and the ‘Irish discount’ created an opportunity to invest in long-term winners which will enjoy strong operational gearing [translation of rising sales into profits] as the recovery gathers pace," said Mr Ormiston.

Nigerian shares were also in vogue with fund managers; around 20 emerging market and frontier market funds have investments there. The Charlemagne Magna Africa fund has 28pc in the country, while the JP Morgan Africa equity fund has 22pc.


But for other regions that made the top 10, such as Greece, Iceland, Pakistan and Iceland, only a small minority of fund managers made profits from the strong stock market performances.

One stock picker backing Greece is Barry Norris, manager of the Argonaut European Alpha fund. Mr Norris has bought shares in a number of Greek banks in recent months; he thinks they could be one of the best investments over the next 12 months.

Excerpt: The 10 best performing stock markets of 2013 - Telegraph