We are big fans of Stocks and Shares ISAs here at The Motley Fool. These investment vehicles can help investors supercharge their long-term returns by cutting out the taxman.
I use of one these tax-efficient wrappers to hold UK and US shares. They allow me to invest up to £20,000 a year, a sum which is enough for my own personal needs.
I’ve been using a Stocks and Shares ISA for many years. But I could have boosted my returns even further by buying one or more of these top-performing US stocks.
Here are the shares that investment platform Saxo says would have returned the most profit for ISA investors during the past five years, bearing in mind that past performance is no guarantee of future strength.
Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice. Readers are responsible for carrying out their own due diligence and for obtaining professional advice before making any investment decisions.
Top Of The Charts
| Stock | Five-year growth |
| Enphase Energy Inc | 4,501% |
| Tesla Inc | 1,069% |
| ChemoMetec A/S | 1,039% |
| Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Inc | 875% |
| Sea Ltd – ADR | 668% |
Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla is perhaps the most recognisable name on this list. Its share price has dropped sharply more recently, yet someone who invested in 2018 would still have made terrific returns by today.
Indeed, Saxo says an ISA investor who bought £1,000 of Tesla shares back then would now be sitting on a whopping £10,690.
However, Tesla’s performance during the past half-decade is eclipsed by that of Enphase Energy, a business that manufactures microinverters for solar panels on homes and commercial buildings.
Saxo’s modelling shows that £1,000 invested in Enphase shares in 2018 would today have returned a spectacular £45,010.
Semiconductor business Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and biotech equipment maker ChemoMetec are also the best-performing ISA stocks since 2018. Sea — which offers e-commerce, digital money, and digital entertainment services — rounds off the top five.
The long-term approach
Saxo’s data underlines the wisdom of long-term investing. It shows that those who buy shares to hold for years often have the best chance to grow their wealth over time.
The longer one stays invested, the lower the impact that market volatility tends to have on a shareholder’s eventual profits. As they say, the cream usually rises to the top. And companies with strong fundamentals often recover strongly from any bumpiness and deliver robust long-term returns.
Two big opportunities
Saxo’s data also underlines the huge profits ISA investors can make from the global green energy revolution. As consumers, companies and governments respond to the climate crisis, demand for cleaner technologies and power sources is booming.
I haven’t bought Tesla or Enphase Energy shares. But TI Fluid Systems — a business that manufactures fluid-carrying components for TVs — sits proudly in my Stocks and Shares ISA.
And last year I added The Renewable Infrastructure Group to my portfolio. The latter owns a portfolio of renewable energy and battery storage assets across Europe.
What’s more, the strong performances of AMD and Sea show how the video games market also offers massive investment potential. This is a theme I’m looking to capitalise on with software development services firm Keywords Studios.
