Figures show that mining stocks performed best, with average gains of 56 per cent, while investors in banks saw their shares fall by an average of nine per cent.

The listed property sector was shown to have performed the worst, however, with companies losing a third of their value on average.

Trevor Greetham, manager of MASF, commented: “This pattern of performance with commodities at the top of the pile and property at the bottom is consistent with a mild dose of stagflation-the combination of a pick up in inflation and slowing economic growth-that hit the developed world in the second half of 2007.”

Elsewhere, a study by Baring Asset Management has shown that Asia has the biggest potential for equity gains over the next ten years for pension funds.

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