11, January, 2023, LONDON –

The US Dollar has topped the Finder Investment Challenge in 2022, making it the first time in 3 years the Bitcoin hasn’t been the most successful choice.

Every year, the personal finance comparison site, finder.com, follows the most popular types of investments from the previous year to see how they perform against each other. By investing* £1,000 in the 7 different types of investments that were the most popular from the previous year, the aim is to help understand the risk associated with different approaches, especially given the unprecedented disruption to the markets caused by coronavirus and the Ukraine conflict.

The top performers of the year

If you had invested £1,000 into the US Dollar at the beginning of January, it would have finished the year at £1,118 (up 11.8%), reaching a peak of £1,246 on September 23rd.

Coming in a very close second was Gold, ending 2022 on £1,117. Traditionally known as a safe haven when markets are struggling, Gold was leading the pack between February and May, amidst the beginning of the Ukraine and Russia conflict.

The turbulent year in the markets has resulted in a savings account proving to be the third best option in the tracker. £1,000 invested in the best easy access savings account available on finder.com as of January 2022 would have returned £1,011.53 (1.15%) by the end of the year. Savings rates did improve throughout the year, but inflation also rose dramatically, meaning savers would have lost money in real terms.

The duds of the year

For the first time in the 3 year history of the Finder Investment Challenge, Bitcoin did not top the standings. In fact, it actually came bottom. The cryptocurrency lost a remarkable 61% of its value over 2022, leaving someone who invested £1,000 on Jan 1st with just £387 by the end of the year.

It was narrowly beaten by Tesla, which followed a similar trajectory, losing 56%. This would leave investors with just £441 after a year – a dramatic fall from 2021 where it rose over 50%.

While things would have been a little better if you had invested in the UK’s most popular fund, Fundsmith Equity, or the FTSE, you would have still ended up down. Fundsmith Equity lost a sizeable 13%, causing a £1k investment to fall to £868 and the FTSE fell 0.7%, meaning investors would have lost around £7 (down to £993).

Commenting on the findings, Head of Research and Communications at the personal finance comparison site, finder.com, Matt Mckenna, said: “All good things come to an end and this has proven to be the case for the bull run enjoyed by riskier investments such as Bitcoin and Tesla. The big question on the minds of those who have capital tied up in them is whether they will ever bounce back to the highs of November 2021. Both have shown an ability to bounce back but the crypto market has faced severe headwinds recently and there are doubts as to how long Tesla can maintain its competitive advantage in the rapidly expanding EV industry.

Over the previous 2 years, this tracker highlighted the potential returns that you can get if you’re prepared to risk your capital but 2022 reminded investors of the benefits that come with safer choices like savings accounts and investing in indices. Whilst the riskier types of investments may reach previous highs, more potential reward comes with more potential risk and it is a real possibility that they may not. You shouldn’t be lured in by the past performance of these assets and make investment decisions that are based on your risk appetite.

To see the research in full visit: https://www.finder.com/uk/investment-tracker

Methodology:
The Tracker follows the price of: the FTSE, Bitcoin, Gold, the Dollar, Stock – Tesla, Fund – Fundsmith Equity, Savings account – Union Bank

For the individual company share and fund, we selected the most popular choices in 2021 according to Trading 212 and Interactive Investor. For the savings account, we picked the most competitive rate available on our site as of Jan 2022. 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.