Younger investors were last year’s star performers

Investment returns for younger investors trounced those of older ones last year by a 9 percentage point margin.

Interactive Investor, the stockbroker, calculated that investors aged 18 to 24 made 8pc on average, while over-65s lost 1pc. Returns fell as age increased.

One of the top investments for younger investors was Apple, the technology giant. Its shares returned 80pc last year as consumers splashed out on expensive gadgets.

Younger investors were also more likely to own investment trusts, which often invest globally, such as in the United States, where some of last year’s best- performing stocks are listed. One of the most popular was Scottish Mortgage, the £18bn trust that owns a large position in the electric vehicle company Tesla, whose shares rose by 700pc last year.

Clean energy was an important investment theme for El Willard, 22, a personal trainer. She began investing only seven months ago, but already her investments have gained around 150pc.

She owned 13 stocks, the best performer of which was Plug Power, an American firm that makes hydrogenpowered batteries for cars. She bought it when the shares cost about £4. Now

‘This electric carmaker could dominate the market in China as Tesla does in America’

the price is around £ 50. Another success has been NIO, the Chinese electric carmaker. “Its stock is up by about 50pc since I bought it. We’re all moving towards electric cars and I believe it could dominate the market in China as Tesla does in America,” Ms Willard added.

Tiernan Fitzgerald, 21, from London, is another newcomer to investing. An apprentice at an investment firm, he took a “value” approach and bought shares that looked cheap versus their earnings.

He made 20pc from his portfolio by buying Shell and Lloyds after they dropped in March last year. He said he would not consider investing in technology stocks until share prices fell significantly and that the best opportunities were in some of last year’s worst-performing shares.