There's a surprising winner of the best shares from the top 200 companies listed on the ASX in 2015, although a late inclusion managed to snatch the award.
Gold miner Evolution FPO (ASX: EVN) has posted gains of 120.9% so far this year, but Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) takes the title with a monster 451% surge. However, Blackmores was only included in the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) in September 2015, partly on the back of its performance, as was hotels business Mantra Group Ltd (ASX: MTR) and automotive spare parts retailer Burson Group Ltd (ASX: BAP).
Other notable performers include Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX), up 99.5%, and Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) up 99.3%.
Here's the full list of the top 10 performing shares in the ASX 200 so far this year.
| Company | Percent gained |
| Blackmores Limited | 452% |
| EVOLUTION FPO | 121% |
| Mayne Pharma Group Ltd | 100% |
| Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. | 99% |
| BT Investment Management Ltd (ASX: BTT) | 79% |
| Burson Group Ltd | 70% |
| Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) | 70% |
| Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) | 64% |
| Mantra Group Ltd | 59% |
| Nufarm Limited (ASX: NUF) | 57% |
Source: CapitalIQ
You'll notice no large banks or resources companies in there – apart from the two gold miners Evolution and Northern Star. Both have had a stellar year, picking up gold mines on the cheap as a number of large global gold miners were forced to sell off assets and shore up their balance sheets.
Northern Star was rated as one of the best resource companies on the ASX back in October by one of our writers, Mitch Sonogan – who has a mining background.
In fact, many of the companies above had transformational years. Will they be big winners again in 2016? They very well may be if the tailwinds they experienced in 2015 continue.
