Rising oil prices helped energy funds easily beat the average for all types of unit trust in recent years but falling prices this week prompted fears the upswing is over.
Brent crude traded at less than $20 a barrel in 2001 but hit $55 last month before easing to nearer $52 this week. The effect on energy funds can be seen in the table on this page; £1,000 invested in Investec Global Energy five years ago would be worth £2,294 today - compared with only £1,013 in the average unit trust.
But can these funds - or shares in oil giants such as BP and Shell - keep on motoring? Or will the boom in this sector overheat and crash in the same way that technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) shares and funds flopped five years ago?
