Similarly, the National Lottery also sells dreams of overnight wealth, but hitting the jackpot will only ever become a reality for a tiny few.

To make a serious attempt at building long-term wealth, I’d recommend investing in a Stocks and Shares ISA instead. Share prices are also volatile, as we’ve seen this week, but history shows that, in the long term, equities beat almost every other investment.

I’m a long-standing fan of investment trusts, and the two I’m tipping here have grown nearly 600% over the last decade, turning a £10,000 investment into £70,000. They’re worth a closer look and could help you win financial freedom.

Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon

Whenever I look at the Japanese smaller companies sector, it always seems to be generating outsize returns, and Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (LSE: BGS) has grown a quite stunning 640% in the last decade, according to the Association of Investment Companies.

Manager Praveen Kumar aims to deliver long-term capital growth from a spread of between 40 and 80 attractively-valued smaller companies he believes offer good growth opportunities.

Unlike many smaller companies funds, it also boasts a low ongoing charging figure, just 0.77% a year and, despite its success, still trades at a tempting discount of 8.6% to net asset value. If you want to add some exciting diversification to your portfolio, this growth-focused Japanese trust looks like an exciting way to achieve it.

Allianz Technology

Allianz Technology Trust (LSE: ATT) has also had a storming decade, rising 599% in that time, again, purely from capital growth, as it doesn’t pay a dividend.

This trust invests primarily in large US companies, with tech giants Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla and Apple all featuring in its top 10 holdings, alongside some familiar names such as MasterCard. 

Naturally, Allianz Technology has benefited from having direct exposure to the world’s most high-profile sector so, before diving in, you should check where you stand on its future prospects.

Do you believe the tech boom is played out, or could it have further to run? Nobody can say for sure, as the tech giants could face regulatory threats, or simply become too unwieldy. Despite that, big tech is generating huge sums from selling global products and services that people crave, and there’s little sign of that changing yet.

Check how much exposure you have to this sector already, as well as the US stock market in general, because 85% of this fund is invested Stateside.

I’d put my money on either of these two investment trust winners or, better still, split my cash between them, rather than have a hopeful punt on Bitcoin or the Lotto.

Multi-asset

One such fund is the Lindsell Train Investment Trust (LSE: LTI). Shares in the multi-asset investment trust have delivered a total return of 233% over the past five years, allowing it to easily surpass the performance of its benchmark MSCI World Index, which gained just 76% in sterling terms. The FTSE 100 has fared even worse, with a total return of just 40% over the same period.

This one seeks to maximise long-term total returns by investing in a diversified portfolio of financial assets, including equities, and other Lindsell Train funds. But what really sets this trust apart from others is that it also owns a significant minority stake in its investment manager, Lindsell Train Limited.

This 24% stake in the investment management company co-founded by Michael Lindsell and Nick Train accounts for 43% of the value of its portfolio. However, with such a large position in a single unquoted investment, those who invest in the trust are highly exposed to fluctuations in the valuation of that single company. And although its position in Lindsell Train Limited has no doubt played a big role in the fund’s recent outperformance, past performance may not be indicative of future returns.

One important reason to be cautious is the high premium at which its shares trade against the underlying value of its assets. Shares in the trust are among the most expensive in the investment trust market — currently trading at a 41% premium to its net asset value (NAV), which is considerably higher than its 12-month average premium of 26%.

Although this reflects strong investor sentiment towards the fund, due to faith in management’s ability to outperform the market, the risk of losing money should the trust fall out of favour is greatly amplified.

Japan smaller companies

Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (LSE: BGS) is another fund that has massively outperformed the FTSE 100. It aims to deliver attractive long-term capital growth by investing in value stocks in Japan’s small-cap space.

Shin Nippon, which means ‘new Japan’ in Japanese, has achieved this outperformance by focusing on fast-growing Japanese companies with innovative business models and dynamic management teams. The trust has a fantastic stock picking track record, and has achieved a five-year total return on 216%.

Its job has been made easier by the fact that many smaller Japanese companies have no broker coverage at all. This limited availability of sell-side coverage provides inefficiently priced opportunities which may be uncovered by the fund’s in-house research team.

GBP/JPY

Of course, the yen’s strength against the pound (or more correctly, sterling’s weakness) has also been an important contributor to the fund’s performance — but that doesn’t explain it all. This is because the trust has also significantly exceeded the gain of its benchmark, the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index, which achieved a return of 98% in sterling terms over the same period.

Shares in the trust trade at a 6% premium to NAV, which seems reasonable, being in line with its 12-month average premium of 5%.

Global equity

The Scottish Mortgage Trust (LSE: SMT) is, in my opinion, one of the best investment trusts to invest for global equity exposure. The £6.5bn flagship Baillie Gifford investment trust invests in both developed and emerging economies, giving its fund manager wide scope to select his best investment ideas.

James Anderson, who has been managing the fund since 2000, likes to maintain a concentrated portfolio of his high-conviction picks. It’s no surprise then that the top 10 holdings accounted for more than half its total assets, while the total number of holdings was 78. This included 42 unlisted companies, which in aggregate accounted for 14.6% of the portfolio.

Impressive performance

Over the past five years, the company has delivered impressive total net asset value (NAV) returns of 171%. That’s more than double its benchmark FTSE All-World Index performance of just 79% over the same period.

It’s clear that the fund has generated this outperformance thanks to its strong preference in technology stocks, which together account for nearly 29% of its assets. On the downside, while this sort of sector-heavy exposure has reaped significant rewards in the past, it also makes the fund vulnerable to a tech sell-off, like the one taking place right now.

But despite its historic outperformance, fees for investing in the fund are surprisingly low, with an ongoing charges figure of 0.44%. Fund fees are sometimes the best predictor of future returns, and it’s particularly important to choose a fund with low fees when you’re investing over a long period of time, as compounding means the costs really add up.

Picking winners

Another fund I’d consider buying for the next decade is Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (LSE: BGS), an investment trust which focuses on small Japanese companies.

The fund has a really strong track record of picking winners. Over the past five years, Shin Nippon has produced a total NAV return of 278% — a little under two-and-a-half times its benchmark MSCI Japan Small Cap Index’s performance of 113% over the same period.

New Japan

Shin Nippon, which means ‘new Japan’, has achieved this outperformance by focusing on small, fast-growing Japanese companies with innovative business models and dynamic management teams. These companies have recently performed really well due to attractive growth prospects and supportive government policy towards deregulation, outsourcing and promoting entrepreneurship.

Moreover, the limited broker coverage of Japanese small-caps has also added to value which has been created by its in-house research team.

The one downside of this fund is its higher costs. With an ongoing charges figure of 0.89%, it charges just over double the cost of holding the much larger Scottish Mortgage Trust. Still, I believe that this may be a price worth paying in order to invest alongside a highly successful specialist team which has had a long and impressive track record of success. 

Thanks a million

Making a million from investing is easier if your investments can roll up free of tax, so make good use of your £20,000 tax-free ISA allowance before it expires at midnight on 5 April.

Somebody who had invested their maximum stocks and shares ISA limit every year since the scheme launched in April 1999 will so far have contributed £186,560. If they had invested that in the average investment trust every year, they would now have a pot of £436,894, a whopping £250,334 gain in less than 20 years!

Thai me

Some funds have done far better, with the very best being Aberdeen New Thai (LSE: ANW). It’s a lesser-known specialist trust with an NAV of 677p per ordinary share with a market cap of c.£95 million that invests 100% in Thai equities. The trust, listed in the Country Specialists: Asia Pacific sector, would have turned your ISA payments into a cool £1,050,638, more than five times your original investment, according to research from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), using Morningstar data.

Despite this, the trust trades at a large discount of -15%. My own research shows that recent performance has been less spectacular, with the fund up just 21.4% over the last five years, according to Trustnet.com, against sector growth of 110.4%. This is less than surprising given recent political upheavals, which saw the Thai army seize power in a coup in 2014. Current uncertainty may make it a good time to invest, depending on where you think Thailand is heading now.

Japan calling

Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (LSE: BGS) — in the Japanese Smaller Companies sector — is the next investment trust millionaire maker, turning maximum ISA contributions into £986,344. In contrast to Aberdeen New Thai, the last five years have been a dream, returning an incredible 261.1% against 150.8% across its sector, Trustnet shows.

Success comes at a price. In this case, a massive premium of 9.84% to underlying NAV. But if you think the Japanese recovery has further to run, this £861m NAV trust could be the place to start.

The third millionaire maker (give or take £37,034) came as a surprise to me. Acorn Income Fund (LSE: AIF), in the UK Equity & Bond Income sector, delivered the third highest return on any investment trust at £962,966. This little-known offering from Premier Fund Managers, which has a NAV of just £441m, aims to provide high income from a portfolio of small- and mid-cap companies, plus capital growth. It currently yields 4.18%.

Mighty oaks

The trust targets companies under a £1bn market-cap with experienced management, sound operational controls, good cash generation and a progressive dividend. Recent performance has been strong, with growth of 88.3% over five years against 60.6% across its sector. It’s also trading at a premium, this time 5.87%.

As ever, past performance is no guarantee of future returns, but all three trusts have an impressive track record. Good luck with that million!