Where should I put my money? This seems like a simple question, but it is faced by every investor and saver.

The short answer is no one knows. It is simply not possible to predict next year which asset class will perform best. Will it be equities, property, government gilts or something else entirely? We simply don’t know. Anyone who tells you they can look into the crystal ball of the financial markets and predict where the next bull market will be is, at best, deluded.

Whilst we can’t predict the best performing asset class (let alone individual stocks), we can say with a considerable degree of certainty what will do best on average. We can do this by examining the wealth of available data on various asset classes, aware that the longer you invest in any asset class, the more it will behave like its average.

Let us consider four investors; one invests in the stock markets, one in UK property, one in US property, and the last in gold.

We will look at these investments across rolling 20 year periods (a reasonable investment time frame). We are not looking for the asset class with the highest return in one 20 year period, but rather the one that consistently comes top in the 20 year period. When you invest it is best to do so in the asset class with the highest chance of coming top.

Beginning in 1991 (the first year of available data for all the investments), we will compare all our asset investments with inflation (RPI) as, if the investment beats inflation, it is in real terms not losing money.

For ease, all gains will be shown before the impact of tax. However, it is worth noting money invested in stocks can be gradually moved to ISAs, allowing tax-free investment growth, and, when withdrawing, no capital gains tax (CGT) It is also worth noting, any property and gold gains would be eroded by CGT. In addition to taxes, as we will only look at the capital growth of assets, you would also need to consider the rents and maintenance costs from property, storage charges for bullion, and dividend gains and management charges for stocks.

For stocks, we will use the MSCI World Index (an index of all publicly traded companies), for both property markets, the relevant housing prices index (HPI), and, for gold, the price of gold. For inflation, we are using RPI as our benchmark.

Stocks are our winner with the highest gains just under 60% of the time, and the second best investment approximately 40% of the time. Whilst gold comes top 5 times, pay attention to where it comes when it is not first. It is also worth looking at the graph below to see if you could stomach the rocky ride gold takes you on.

• Stocks: £1,007,000
• UK Property: £399,000
• US Property: £274,000
• Gold: £380,000
• Inflation (our benchmark): £245,000

Patrick Christie
Graduate Trainee Financial Planner – WealthFlow
Patrick.Christie@wealthflow.com

This article is distributed for educational purposes and should not be considered investment advice or an offer of any product for sale. This article contains the opinions of the author but not necessarily the Firm and does not represent a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable but is not guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results and no representation is made that the stated results will be replicated. Errors and omissions excepted.

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WealthFlow Group Ltd. Registered in Scotland No SC635011. Registered Office: 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4DR.

Head Office & Consulting Rooms: 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4DR.

Mail correspondence to our Central Scotland Admin Hub: WealthFlow Group Limited, PO Box 14947, Grangemouth FK3 3AU.

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

For your protection, unresolved complaints can be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

To contact the Financial Ombudsman Service, please visit www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

WealthFlow Group Ltd. Registered in Scotland No SC635011. Registered Office: 10 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4DR.