Funds invested in Bitcoin and growth strategies were among the best performers of 2024, according to data compiled from FE fundinfo.
Bitcoin has surged for a second consecutive year, briefly surpassing the $100,000 mark as investors position for a more crypto-friendly Trump administration in the US.
Certain global growth funds also performed well due to their exposure to certain high-flying tech stocks, which were a strong driver of equity returns last year.
Below are the best performing funds of 2024 available for distribution in Hong Kong and Singapore.
| Fund | 2024 Return (%) | Sector |
| Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF | 100.04 | HKM Hedge/Stru Product |
| Xtrackers MSCI Pakistan Swap UCITS ETF | 64.64 | Sgp Mt Equity – Emerging Asia |
| Natixis WCM Select Global Growth Equity | 55.03 | HKM Equity – International |
| Alger Focus Equity | 53.39 | Sgp Mt Equity – North America |
| Samsung NYSE FANG+ ETF | 49.57 | HKM Equity – TMT |
| VanEck Video Gaming and eSports UCITS ETF | 48.6 | Sgp Mt Equity – Technology |
| Alger Alger American Asset Growth | 47.51 | Sgp Mt Equity – North America |
| UOB United E-Commerce | 46.5 | Sgp Mt Equity – Technology |
| Foresight China Equity | 46.02 | HKM Equity – Greater China |
| Van Eck Defense UCITS ETF | 43.54 | Sgp Mt Equity – Other Specialist |
| VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators UCITS ETF | 43.45 | Sgp Mt Equity – Technology |
| Mirae Asset Global X AI & Innovative Technology Active ETF | 43.39 | HKM Equity – TMT |
| Schroder GAIA Contour Tech Equity | 42.59 | Sgp Mt Hedge/Stru Product |
| VanEck Space Innovators UCITS ETF | 42.26 | Sgp Mt Equity – Other Specialist |
| VanEck Energy Income ETF | 42.04 | Sgp Mt Equity – Commodity |
| Invesco Technology S&P US Select Sector UCITS ETF | 41.5 | Sgp Mt Equity – Technology |
| CIMB Islamic Equity Aggressive | 41.46 | Sgp Mt Equity – Malaysia |
| MS INVF Global Insight | 41.16 | Sgp Mt Equity – International |
| MS INVF US Growth | 41.16 | Sgp Mt Equity – North America |
| Tantallon Tantallon | 40.99 | Sgp Mt Hedge/Stru Product |
| MS INVF US Insight | 40.94 | Sgp Mt Equity – North America |
The Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF, which provides investors exposure to the price of Bitcoin through derivatives, delivered a 100% gain for investors in 2024, roughly in line with the price appreciation of Bitcoin over the year.
The VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators UCITS ETF, which invests in Bitcoin and Crypto related listed equities, also featured in the top performing funds. Despite an over 300% gain in MicroStrategy – its largest position – other cryptocurrency miners lagged during the year.
Elsewhere in the list above, the Natixis WCM Select Global Growth Equity delivered the best returns in the global equity sector, up 55% for the year.
One of its best performing stocks was AppLovin, which has swelled to its largest position after rallying over 800% during the year.
The Alger Focus Equity fund, which was another top performing global growth fund, also had exposure to AppLovin.
This strategy, along with the Samsung NYSE FANG+ ETF, both benefited from their outsized exposure to US tech stocks.
The Xtrackers MSCI Pakistan Swap UCITS ETF was another outlier performance wise, with a 64.6% return over the year. The International Monetary Fund’s $7bn bailout package for Pakistan in September was a key factor in the region’s equity market 2024 rally.
Looking more broadly, the best sectors by average performance were financials and technology. From a more regional perspective, Malaysia, the US and Taiwan were among the top performing averages.
After being a strong region last year, Latin America was the geographical region in 2024. Korea also performed poorly as the nation’s stock market has been dragged down by ongoing political turmoil.
The energy sector also performed poorly as oil prices remained stagnant during 2024.
Below are the top and bottom performing sectors of 2024.
| Fund | 2024 Performance (%) | Fund | 2024 Performance (%) |
| Sgp Mt Equity Malaysia | 28.44 | Sgp Mt Equity Europe Small/Mid Cap | -4.42 |
| Sgp Mt Equity Financial | 22.97 | HKM Property | -4.54 |
| Sgp Mt Equity Technology | 21 | Sgp Mt Equity Real Estate Other | -5.13 |
| HKM Hedge/Stru Product | 20.4 | Sgp Mt Equity Energy | -5.81 |
| HKM Equity Financial | 20.31 | HKM Equity Energy | -7.28 |
| HKM Equity North America | 20.2 | Sgp Mt Equity Indonesia | -8.63 |
| HKM Equity TMT | 19.9 | HKM Equity Korea | -18.71 |
| Sgp Mt Equity Singapore | 18.38 | Sgp Mt Equity Korea | -20.76 |
| Sgp Mt Equity North America | 18.37 | Sgp Mt Equity Latin America | -27.43 |
| Sgp Mt Equity Taiwan | 17.86 | HKM Equity Latin America | -28.43 |
*The data was measured in US dollar terms and excluded leveraged/inverse products.
