2025 was a year full of economic changes, surprises and sudden movements in almost all markets. With inflation of 24.8% between January and October (all presented at the time of writing this note), many Argentines looked for ways to protect their money. Some options worked very well, others fell far short of what was expected. This is a simple and direct look at what happened with each relevant investment of the year.
Gold: the big winner of 2025 around the world. The investment that performed best this year was gold. It rose almost 60% in dollar terms, huge growth for an asset that typically moves more slowly. Why did this happen? Mainly because in times of global uncertainty, many people and many institutions choose it as a “refuge.” When the global economic outlook is worrying, gold tends to rise, and in 2025 it did so almost without pauses.
It was, without a doubt, the star investment of the year globally.
The international market: strong stocks, weak cryptocurrencies. Those who invested in the 500 largest companies in the United States – known as the “S&P 500” – also had a good year, with gains of close to 16% in dollars. The year started badly for these companies, but they ended up recovering completely.
The flip side was Bitcoin. The largest cryptocurrency in the world came from significant increases in previous years, but in 2025 it failed to maintain that momentum. It was up 35%, but then it fell and at this moment it has a price practically the same as at the beginning of 2025.
The dollar in Argentina: official above, blue below. Just as gold was the global star, in Argentina the protagonist was once again the dollar. But not all dollars had the same journey.
He official dollar It went from 1,048 to 1,475 pesos so far this year, an increase of close to 40.7%. It was one of the best returns in the country. The only problem: until April, with the stocks still firm, almost no one could buy it freely. And, as expected, the biggest increase occurred after the partial exit of the stocks, so few Argentines were able to take advantage of that large increase.
He blue dollarOn the other hand, it started the year at 1,215 pesos and today it is around 1,435 pesos, an increase of 18.1%. At first glance it seems good, but in the face of inflation it ended up being a bad investment. In real terms, those who bought blue They lost around 5.4% of purchasing power. Very far from its usual role as “coverage”. And let us remember that inflation for the month of November has not yet occurred, which would result in an even greater loss of purchasing power for those who bought the blue dollar in January of this year.
Real estate: the brick did not accompany. Buying property – something that many historically consider “safe” – was also not a great investment in 2025. Between January and October, the average price per square meter rose by just 3.6%. Although their value is measured in dollars, they are still below inflation so far this year.
It was a very weak year for the real estate market, with no clear signs of recovery.
The fixed term: simple, known and winning in pesos. One of the big surprises of the year was the return of the fixed term as a profitable alternative. Although rates changed a lot from month to month, a saver who renewed his fixed term every month with compound interest ended up with a profit close to 32% between January and October.
Faced with an inflation of 24.8%, this represents a 5.8% real profit. That is, it not only maintained its value, but increased it. For those looking for a simple and uncomplicated investment in pesos, the fixed term ended up being the best option.
Argentine stocks: a year of rises and falls. The local stock market experienced one of the busiest years of the decade. During nine months the market fell almost 35%, but after the legislative elections in October it rebounded very strongly. With that boost, the index ended up showing a 20% gain for the year. The problem is that when compared to inflation, that number becomes a small real loss of 3.8%.
Even so, there were companies that stood out greatly: Instituto Rosenbusch (Ticker: ROSE) rose around 95% so far this year, and Grimoldi (Ticker: GRIM) nearly 100%. For those who were positioned in those roles, 2025 was excellent, although these are riskier investments and not as predictable as even more traditional options.
So… What was the best investment of the year? It depends on where you look:
● Worldwidethe big winner was goldwhich was up almost 60% and outperformed everything else.
● In Argentina, in pesosthe best performance was given by fixed termwith a real gain close to 5.8%. If we do not count specific actions.
● If we talk about dollarsthe biggest increase was that of official dollaralthough difficult to take advantage of due to its limited access.
● In local actionsthere were very successful individual cases, but the market average failed to beat inflation.
The year 2025 made it clear that there is no magic formula: each investment has its moment. The important thing, once again, is to diversify and understand where each asset fits into the overall picture.
*Ariel Mamani He is a young leader in financial education and founder of INVERARG.
by Ariel Mamani
