With steep rises in stocks from 2002 until 2007, most investors were wholly unprepared for the sudden and shocking falls we would witness in 2008.

Today the financial system remains constricted around the world, as banks rush to unwind over-stretched balance sheets, and economies contract in the face of a potential slowdown in China and the US.

Investors, battered for the last four years by equity markets, have rushed into bonds in ever greater numbers in the ongoing search for returns, while everyone has got used to the idea you cannot get 5% on cash anymore.

But where, if you had a crystal ball, should you have put your money back in 2002, to give you the highest possible return?

Below, according to data from Morningstar, is a run down of the top performing IMA sectors over what has been a turbulent decade.

Only three sectors managed to deliver you over 200% if you had invested in the average fund, while a further eight sectors would have more than doubled your investment.

The data covers the period from July 2002 to July 2012, showing the percentage gains for an investor who put £100 into the average fund. The % change (gains) includes any dividends the investor would have been paid, while the final column shows the number of funds investors had to choose from if they invested ten years ago.