Why last year's winner is the wrong thing to look at
Past performance does not guarantee future returns. A fund that topped the table last year has told you what happened, not what will happen, and there is no rule that says it will do it again.
Fund managers each follow their own investment strategy — different mixes of shares, bonds and cash, different countries and industries, different views on when to take risk. Those strategies do not all suit the same conditions, so managers tend to take turns at the top.
A manager weighted towards global shares will look brilliant during a strong sharemarket run and poor in a downturn. A more conservative manager will look ordinary in the good years and hold up far better in the bad ones. Comparing them over a single year mostly tells you what markets did, not which manager is better.
This is why a one-year table is a weak basis for a decision. What matters more is the fund type you are in, how long your money has to grow, and whether the level of risk actually suits you.
The clearest way to judge a fund's track record is to look at its returns over several years side by side with every other fund, rather than reacting to a single strong or weak year. The comparison below lets you do exactly that.