UK equities pip Switzerland, Germany and Japan

It trumped equivalent indices in other developed nations such as Germany, Switzerland and Japan, which achieved annualised returns of 10.5 per cent, 6.5 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, over the same period.

However, it was beaten by the US, which drove a 13.5 per cent annual return over the period, as well as Australia which came in way ahead with 21.5 per cent.

The news may seem surprising but research by Professor Jay Ritter (Economic Growth and Equity Returns) reveals there is no correlation between GDP growth and stock market returns, suggesting UK equity investors shouldn't necessarily jump ship over the prospect of lower economic growth going forward.

Particularly well-performing sectors for the UK in recent years have been the media, technology, travel & leisure sectors, which have all have outperformed the generally defensive healthcare sector.

Mark Dampier, head of research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said UK investors tend to write off their own stock market, whereas confidence in the US has actually boosted its stock market. And he added: "It's not really hard to do better than Japan, so that's not groundbreaking."

UK equity funds that have flourished over the period include the Liontrust UK Growth fund and the Cazenove UK Equity fund.

The former is managed by Anthony Cross and Julian Fosh who dig out companies with strong intellectual capital and with strong retention of central employees - to add value over the long term.

And at the steering wheel of the Cazenove UK Equity fund is Julie Dean, who combines both top-down and bottom-up analysis to anticipate changes in the business cycle and their impact on share prices.

Source: Morningstar and Cazenove