Investors who favoured Asia Pacific equities in the wake of the EU referendum would have seen much better returns than those who placed their money in commodities, according to research analysing the markets over the past year.
A year ago, as the result of the Brexit vote became clear, the UK stock market witnessed a sharp sell-off and the value of the pound tumbled. However, over these past twelve months the UK stock market has bounced back to reach record highs due to the boost that the falling pound has given to Britain’s exporters and overseas earners.
According to research from Fidelity International, had you invested £10,000 in the FTSE 100 on 24 June 2016, the day of the EU referendum result, you would now be sitting on £12,565* – a 26 percent boost.
However, whilst UK stocks have delivered impressive returns over the past year, several asset classes have performed even better over the same period.
Over the past year, Asia Pacific equities have delivered a whopping 36.89 percent return while Emerging Market equities have returned an equally impressive 36.23 percent. Looking across the channel to our global neighbours, European equities have returned 35.75 percent since the Brexit vote.
Total returns of various asset classes since the EU referendum results:
| Rank | Asset class | % Returns |
| 1 | Asia Pacific Equities | 36.89 |
| 2 | Emerging Market Equities | 36.23 |
| 3 | European (ex UK) Equities | 35.75 |
| 4 | Japanese Equities | 31.43 |
| 5 | Global Equities | 31.01 |
| 6 | US Equities | 30.15 |
| 7 | UK Equities | 25.63 |
| 8 | High Yield Bonds | 20.45 |
| 9 | Emerging Market Debt | 15.81 |
| 10 | Real Estate | 14.43 |
| 11 | Corp Bonds | 9.87 |
| 12 | Inflation-Linked Bonds | 8.15 |
| 13 | Government Bonds | 2.32 |
| 14 | Cash | 0.44 |
| 15 | Commodities | -0.12 |
Source: Fidelity International sourced from Datastream, June 2017. % Total returns in GBP 24/06/2016 to 15/06/2017
Tom Stevenson, investment director for Personal Investing at Fidelity International, commented on the results:
“For many people, the result of last June’s vote was a shock. Equally shocking was the market reaction in the following months. However, it should not have been such a surprise – the fall in the pound has been the key driver of market returns in the UK over the past year and it will be the key driver of the economy and markets over the next 12 months.
“However, in the grand scheme of things, the UK plays a small part in the overall global economy and whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, the US economy will continue to recover, Europe will remain on the mend and emerging markets will continue to outstrip the growth in the developed world.
“With this in mind, it pays to have a well-diversified portfolio and, as our analysis shows, such a portfolio has delivered fantastic returns over the past 12 months.”
The FTSE 100 has had a particularly volatile year, affected by both the EU referendum last June and the fallout from the decision, the spate of terrorist attacks across the UK and the general election. The FTSE 100 is currently trading up 0.94 percent at 7,544.99 (1546GMT).