Investment tracker: How are popular investments performing?

Every year, we track 7 different ways to invest or save £1,000. What has performed well recently?

Updated

Apr 10, 2024

Fact checked

Investment tracker: Which popular investment method is winning so far in 2024?

All investing should be regarded as long term. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Your capital is at risk. When applicable, currency has been converted using the market rate on the day in question

The rise of cheap investing apps has opened up a world of possibilities for people who are looking for different ways to save their money. Traditionally, the most popular method of saving for Brits has been to keep their money in a savings account, but increasing numbers are looking to the higher risk and potentially higher reward options of stocks, funds and trackers and often use stock trading apps to do so.

But what could be the best investment in 2024? For the fourth year running, we decided to start the year with £1,000* placed in some of the most popular investments from last year and the best savings account available on our site. Follow the live tracker below to see what method is currently winning and to learn more about each option. As always with investing, it’s worth remembering that past performance doesn’t guarantee future success, and unexpected factors can affect share prices.

Find out more about each investment method

- What is a savings account? A savings account is a place where you can hold your money in exchange for a return on the amount paid as interest. The amount you earn depends on the interest rate.
- How much could you earn? The best fixed-rate savings account on our site at the beginning of 2024 was Barclays, paying interest of 5.66% over the year. This means an investment of £1,000 would return £58.39 in interest by the end of the year.
- Is it considered to be a safe investment? A savings account is considered a very safe investment, with up to £85,000 in savings protected by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should anything happen to your bank.
- How many people in Britain use these? The majority of Brits within the UK have some money in savings, with just 16% of us without any money in savings at all.
- What is a fund? An investment fund is a way of investing money in a range of shares alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group. Often these are presented with risk profiles to match your investment tactic.
- How has this performed over the last 5 years? We included the UK’s most popular investment fund from 2023 in this challenge, which is Fundsmith Equity.
- Is it considered to be a safe investment? An investment fund can be risky, as your money can go up as well as down but you can choose a lower risk profile fund if you want a safer investment.
- How many people in Britain use these? Investment funds are a relatively popular choice as these are typically managed by fund managers who will take care of the buying and selling of stocks and shares on your behalf. You can also choose the level of risk profile you desire to match your investment goals and strategy.
- What is the FTSE? The FTSE is the top 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange by market capitalisation.
- How has this performed over the last 5 years? Over the last 5 years, the FTSE has trended both upwards and downwards, experiencing highs of 8,004 in February 2023 and lows of 5,191 in March 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit.
- Is it considered to be a safe investment? When investing in the stock market, there is always a risk your money can go down as well as up.
- How popular is investing in the FTSE 100? Investing in the FTSE 100 is often a popular choice for investors as it gives them wider coverage of the UK stock market and is considered to be a safer investment than individual shares. Historically, it has performed relatively well, but investing in the FTSE 100 has the potential to go up or down.
- What is a stock? A stock is a fractional ownership of a company listed on the stock exchange that can be bought and sold. We picked Tesla as it was the most traded share in the UK in 2021.
- How has this performed over the last 5 years? Tesla’s share price has fluctuated over the past five years, but is up by 826% between February 2019 and February 2024.
- Is it considered to be a safe investment? Stocks are considered one of the most risky investments you can make as there are so many variables that can have an effect on the price.
- How many people in Britain use these? Research shows that almost a quarter of Brits have invested in the stock market.
- What do we mean by dollar? For this investment challenge, we took the value of £1,000 if you converted it into US dollars on 1 January and compared how much this would then be worth if you converted it back.
- How has this performed over the last 5 years? Over the last 5 years, the value of the pound against the US dollar has fluctuated. In 2023, it was the only method to make a loss, with £1000 worth £940.35 at the end of the year.
- Is it considered to be a safe investment? Investing in dollars essentially means you are putting both the US dollar and the British pound against each other, so it would be considered a more risky investment strategy.
- How popular is this method of investing? Foreign exchange trading is a popular method of trading, but it often requires significant funds to capitalise on the shifts in exchange rates.
- What is gold? Gold is a precious metal with a longstanding history of holding high value.
- How has this performed over the last 5 years? Over the last 5 years, gold has increased in value by 60%. At its lowest point in 2019, it was worth £31,280 per kg and at its highest £52,956. As of 1 January 2024, gold was worth £52,096 per kg.
- Is it considered to be a safe investment? Gold is considered by investors as one of the safest investments as it tends to hold its value even through inflation. However, gold, like any investment, can go up or down in value.
- How popular is investing in gold? Due to its perception as a relatively safe investment, investing in gold is often a relatively popular choice.
- What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin is a digital currency, known as a cryptocurrency.
- How has this performed over the last 5 years? Bitcoin is a very volatile investment, experiencing massive gains and losses, sometimes over just a 24-hour period. At the end of 2021, Bitcoin was worth over £35,000, with the price hitting over £48,000 in November 2021. However, it decreased signiciantly in 2022 and was worth less than £14,000 at the end of that year. It increased again towards the end of 2023, reaching £34,000 at the start of the year.
- Is it considered to be a safe investment? Due to the turbulent growth since its inception in 2009, experiencing both massive gains and losses, most people would describe Bitcoin as a more risky investment
- How many people in Britain use these? Our research found that over 1 million Brits owned Bitcoin in 2023.

The dollar gave the best returns in 2022, with £1,000 returning £1,118 at the end of the year. This was followed by gold, which gave £1,116. The only other method with positive returns was a savings account, but this only made gains of £11.
It was a bad year to invest in both Tesla and Bitcoin, as £1,000 in Tesla was worth just £441 at the end of 2022, while £1,000 in Bitcoin was worth £387. This shows the volatility of investing!
How did popular investments do in 2021?
With 2021 behind us, our interactive tracker revealed how 7 popular types of investments fared after £1,000 was invested in them at the beginning of the year*
Bitcoin
Bitcoin has an extremely impressive 2021, leading the way as the most profitable stock in our tracker. As of 31 December, Bitcoin was up 59%, meaning a £1,000 stake at the beginning of the year, would be worth £1,590. While being the biggest increase in our 2021 tracker, the increase looks less impressive than the massive 292% increase Bitcoin saw in 2020.
Gold
While having a strong 2020, gold did not have a strong 2021, with the price decreasing by 2.6% by the end of the year. This placed gold as the worst tracked investment in 2021. The price never got above its price at the beginning of 2021.
Fundsmith Equity
The UK’s most popular fund in 2020, Fundsmith Equity, ended 2021 strong and ended up as the third-best investment in the challenge. The fund saw an impressive 22% increase by the end of 2021.
Savings account
The savings account gave consistent, albeit small, returns; however, it finished second last and more importantly, below inflation. Savings accounts returned 0.2% less than inflation meaning these accounts were worth less than at the start of 2021.
Tesla
Led by Elon Musk, Tesla saw its price fluctuate the most out of all the investments tracked. From returning the lowest price of the year in June (an 18% decrease), Tesla ended 2021 strong reaching a high in November, which was 75% more than at the beginning of the year. It ended the year as the second-best investment tracked at 51% which was just 5% less than how much Bitcoin increased.
FTSE 100
Putting money into an FTSE 100 tracker (or index fund) is generally considered to be a sound long-term investment. This is shown by being an extremely consistent investment throughout the year, leading to an end-of-year growth of 14%.
Dollar
The dollar is historically a popular investment for risky investors as the value is susceptible to unpredictable fluctuations. However, our tracker shows how the dollar in 2021 had a fairly poor year, with the investment growing just over 2%. This makes the dollar the second-worst performing investment in 2021 and lower than saving accounts and inflation. However, as the dollar is seen as a long-term investment, this price will be worth watching in 2022.
Methodology
For the individual company share and fund, we selected the most popular choices according to Trading 212 and Interactive Investor. For the savings account, we picked the most competitive rate available on our site as of Jan 2021.
All data is taken from the markets at the close of markets on a Friday.
*The £1,000 hasn’t actually been saved or invested in these methods, it is just being used as a way to illustrate the performance of each method.
How did popular investments do in 2020?
With 2020 behind us, our interactive investment tracker revealed how 6 popular types of investments fared after £1,000 was invested in them at the beginning of the year*.
Bitcoin
Other than a slight dip in March, Bitcoin has led the way for most of the year, pulling away from the other investments from October onwards. As of 31 December, Bitcoin was up 292%, meaning a £1,000 stake at the beginning of January would be worth a massive £3,919 at the end of 2020. This is £2,953 higher than the average return of all the other 5 investments.
Gold
The uncertainty in the markets has helped propel the price of gold higher by 21% in 2020, with a £1,000 investment at the start of the year being worth £1,210. This makes gold the second-best tracked investment in 2020. It was also one of the few investments whose value never fell below its price at the beginning of 2020.
Fundsmith Equity
The UK’s most popular fund in 2019, Fundsmith Equity, hit lows in March and April when it was around 10% down and sat in sixth place in the challenge. However, the fund bounced back impressively with an 18% increase in the initial investment by the end of 2020. This makes the fund the third-best tracked investment and 1 of only 3 investments that made a profit over the year.
Savings account
The savings account gave consistent, albeit small, returns and despite briefly giving the third-best returns during the initial market crash in March, it ended the year in fourth place. While money is protected with this option, the modest return of £17 in 2020 has started to be overtaken by some of the other investment options. Also, the market-leading 1.6% interest rate available at the beginning of January is not available anymore, having been slashed throughout 2020. This means the returns are likely to be even lower in 2021.
Lloyd’s Bank
Lloyd’s Bank was the UK’s most bought stock of 2019 but gave the worst returns of all the options at the end of 2020. The bank’s share price has fallen by a huge 42% since the beginning of the year. This means that had you invested £1,000 in Lloyds shares at the start of 2020, you’d be left with just £583 at the end of the year.
FTSE 100
Putting money into an FTSE 100 tracker (or index fund) is generally considered to be a sound long-term investment, but even this hasn’t been immune to the 2020 COVID-19 downturn with it sitting second last in the list. It was down 14% at the end of 2020, with the initial £1,000 worth only £857.
This means that, while it isn’t considered to be a serious investment option, putting the £1,000 under your mattress would have left you with significantly more cash than if you had put your money into some of these traditional investments in 2020.
Methodology
For the individual company share and fund, we selected the most popular choices in 2019 according to IG and Hargreaves Lansdown. For the savings account, we picked the most competitive rate available on our site as of March 2020. To replicate playing the lottery every week, we are randomising the numbers before each weekly draw.
All data is taken from the markets at the close of markets on a Friday.
*The £1,000 hasn’t actually been saved or invested in these methods, it is just being used as a way to illustrate the performance of each method.

Methodology

For the fund, we selected the most popular choice according to Bestinvest and MoneyWeek which was Fundsmith Equity. For the savings account, we picked the most competitive 1 year fixed rate savings account available on our site as of Jan 2024.

All data is taken from the markets at the close of markets on a Friday.

*The £1,000 hasn’t actually been saved or invested in these methods, it is just being used as a way to illustrate the performance of each method.

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact

Matt Mckenna
Head of UK communications
T: +44 20 8191 8806

This article offers general information about investing and the stock market, but should not be construed as personal investment advice. It has been provided without consideration of your personal circumstances or objectives. It should not be interpreted as an inducement, invitation or recommendation relating to any of the products listed or referred to. Your capital is at risk. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please get financial advice. The author holds no positions in any share mentioned. Bitcoin is highly volatile and not regulated – there’s no consumer protection.

Thank you for your feedback!

Matt McKenna

Matt is Finder's Head of Communications & Content Marketing (UK), overseeing research, surveys and spokesperson appearances.

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Investment tracker: How are popular investments performing?

Every year, we track 7 different ways to invest or save £1,000. What has performed well recently?

Investment tracker: Which popular investment method is winning so far in 2024?

Find out more about each investment method

Savings account

Fund

FTSE

Individual stock - Tesla

Dollar

Gold

Bitcoin

What was the best investment in 2023?

What was the best investment in 2022?

What was the best investment in 2021?

What was the best investment in 2020?

Methodology

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact

Matt McKenna

More guides on Finder

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