The crisis was seen by many as an indictment of western economics and politics, with the developing world widely tipped to canter away from its aging, debt-ridden developed counterpart.
However, while economic growth has certainly been higher in the developing world since then, its markets have stumbled and investors who fled the developed world have missed out on the best gains available.
Data from FE Analytics shows that the average IMA Global fund has made 34.57 per cent over the past five years while the average IMA Global Emerging Markets one has made 21.49 per cent.
Performance of sectors over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The outperformance is even greater over a three-year period, over which time the IMA Global sector has seen gains of 35.72 per cent, compared with 1.28 per cent from IMA Global Emerging Markets.
It all serves to underline the unpredictability of world markets and makes an interesting case for holding a Global fund, which is able to invest across the developed and developing world.
The funds that have done the best over this time are an eclectic bunch, with some of them highly aggressive and cyclical in nature.
Others have a more defensive bent, and sit on top of the tables thanks to their outperformance in the various crises of the past few years.
With the turmoil of 2008 shortly to fall off the five-year figures, now is a good time to re-examine their qualities.
Top-performing global funds over 5yrs
| Name | 5yr | Volatility | Sharpe |
|---|---|---|---|
| McInroy & Wood - Smaller Companies | 89.19 | 17.93 | 0.57 |
| Morgan Stanley - Global Brands | 83.26 | 15.62 | 0.62 |
| Invesco Perp - Global Smaller Companies |
78.83 | 19.97 | 0.46 |
| Henderson - Global Growth | 78.79 | 20.26 | 0.45 |
| S&W - Kennox Strategic Value | 77.25 | 10.48 | 0.82 |
| M&G - Global Dividend | 67.51 | 20.99 | 0.36 |
| JPM - Global Consumer Trends |
61.77 | 19.58 | 0.34 |
| Invesco Perp - Global Opportunities | 59.63 | 18.2 | 0.37 |
| SVM - World Equity | 59.38 | 20.65 | 0.32 |
Source: FE Analytics
The best-performing fund is a tiny portfolio: the £48m McInroy & Wood Smaller Companies fund.
It has made 89.91 per cent over the past five years, according to data from FE Analytics.
Performance of fund vs index over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The fund is very different from the second fund on the list, the £672m Morgan Stanley Global Brands fund.
Not only much larger than the preceding funds, it also invests at the other end of the market cap scale, concentrating on blue chips with a global reach. Unfortunately it is soft-closed to new investors.
It is noticeable, however, that its performance has started to tail off in recent years. The fund is in the fourth quartile of the sector over 12 months, although it is still first-quartile over three and five years.
It could be that as the world emerges from crisis, the defensive names this fund buys are starting to underperform.
However, it has already shown a pattern of underperforming in market rallies and excelling in years the market loses money.
Another fund with a more defensive bent to appear in the list of top performers is the £188m S&W Kennox Strategic Value fund.
It has been remarkably consistent over the past five years, with a volatility of just 10.48 per cent, the fourth-lowest figure in the sector.
Nevertheless it has made 77.25 per cent over the past five years while the MSCI World index has made 44.89 per cent.
Performance of fund vs sector and index over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The fund utilises a deep-value buy-and-hold strategy, concentrating on stocks with little potential downside, with the managers happy to wait for a long time for their share price to recover.
It did exceptionally well in 2008, making 6.38 per cent while the average retail global fund lost 24.1 per cent.
Returns were also top quartile in 2010 and 2011, although 2012 and 2013 have seen the fund slip into the third quartile as markets have picked up across the board. It requires a £20,000 initial investment, unfortunately.
The fund is also the leading portfolio in terms of Sharpe ratio in the sector. The Sharpe ratio relates returns to each notional unit of risk taken on, attempting to assess how much bang the managers get for their risky buck.
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery comes second on this metric, with Morgan Stanley Global Brands third.
The figures so far have excluded specialist healthcare funds, which have performed very strongly but are better compared with each other.
The Schroder Global Healthcare fund has achieved the third-highest returns of any fund in the sector over five years, at 84.52 per cent.
The L&G Global Health & Pharmaceutical Index fund, which aims to track the FTSE World Health & Pharma index, has made 77.77 per cent.
