There's nothing like hindsight to show you exactly where you should have invested your money in the past.

Who wouldn't take the opportunity to snap up a Grey Lynn, Auckland, house at 1970s prices, or shares in Amazon before people understood what it really was?

But if you wanted to get the best return for your money over the past 10 years, it turns out that you probably couldn't have done a lot better than investing in A2 Milk.

At the end of December 2009, its shares were trading for 0.05 cents each. By the end of this November, they were changing hands for $15.52.

READ MORE:

* Here's why you might (or might not) want to buy shares in a bank

* Shares for Christmas? Yes, that's a real thing

* What the sharemarket jitters mean for you

That's a growth rate of 18159 per cent.

Mark Lister, of Craigs Investment Partners, said A2 "took the cake" on a decade of great returns for stocks in general. "A $100 investment in A2 back then would today be worth a spectacular $18,082."

A2 was followed by Mainfreight. Its shares started the decade at $5.55 and ended it at $41.70.

But Lister said the New Zealand sharemarket in general had performed well - it delivered a return of 250.3 per cent over the past 10 years, or 13.5 per cent a year.

SUPPLIED New Zealand shares have delivered good returns over the past 10 years.

"That means $100 in NZ shares at the end of 2009 would today be worth $350."

Financial adviser Liz Koh agreed anyone who had invested money in New Zealand shares should have seen a good return - and you didn't need to pick the right stocks to do it.

"The NZX50 index increased from around 2770 in June 2009 to around 10,500 in June 2019. A passive investment fund linked to this index would have produced outstanding results."

Lister said, looking further afield, money put into Amazon in 2009 would also have done well. It has returned 1413 per cent for shareholders over the decade. That would turn $100 into $1513.

Financial commentator Janine Starks said fintech stocks had also been a solid investment.

"They've been a good performer and share prices have the potential for even more growth in the next 10 years. They can be terribly dull companies - the administration systems behind funds management or the apps that help us communicate with financial companies or our payment systems."

Koh said property was still a favoured investment for New Zealanders and nationwide property values had lifted by about 80 per cent over the decade.

CHRIS MCKEEN/STUFF A2 Milk chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka has overseen huge share price growth.

"While the growth was lower than for New Zealand shares, the advantage of investing in property is that you can easily use borrowed funds to invest and this has the effect of magnifying the returns.

"However, borrowing to invest adds to the level of risk and property investment brings with it the complications of finding and managing suitable properties. Investing in New Zealand shares would have been a much easier win over the period. That said, it is never a good idea to put your eggs in one basket."

Economist Cameron Bagrie said it had been "a hell of a decade for investing" because central banks had reduced interest rates so much that it pushed up prices of almost all assets.

"That game is nearing its end. Where to invest over pending decades is going to be less about the price of money and more about the quality of the economic environment and economic policy. We'll be watching governments more than central banks."

Mark Riggall, a portfolio manager at Milford Assert Management, said it was hard to predict what would happen over the next 10 years.

Recent sharemarket returns had exceeded expectations, he said..

"You've got to remember that 10 years ago we were in the middle of the GFC and values were much more depressed and have recovered form that."

The country had been through an expansionary period with strong growth, and that on top of low interest rates provided room for share prices to boom.