Cheers and tears: The 20 best and worst funds of the first half

A tumultuous June may have taken the edge off many of the sizeable gains made by funds in the first half of 2013, but it was not enough to derail performance completely.

Figures from Morningstar analysing the performance of 2,439 UK-registered funds in its investment universe show the average fund gained a healthy 7.2% in H1. But, as ever, the biggest winners and losers exhibited a much wider range of returns. The 20 top funds Topping the pile of best performing funds were two Japanese equity offerings. Investors' approval of the country's 'Abenomics' stimulus programme may have moderated after equities shed 20% from their late-May peaks, but the Nikkei remains up over 30% year-to-date. Legg Mason's Japan equity fund, renowned for its high beta pla...