The most popular funds, stocks and investment trusts for your ISA

Stocks, funds and investment trusts are the building blocks of any stocks and shares ISA. Which have been the most popular so far during the current tax year?

The deadline to max out your annual ISA allowance for the tax year falls on 5 April, so if you’ve not yet put up to £20,000 into ISAs in 2025/26 but wish to, now is the time to make contributions before the allowance resets.

When deciding where to invest, looking at the most popular stocks, funds and investment trusts can be a valuable source of inspiration.

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“Investing is about deploying money into the markets and letting it grow slowly,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. “ISAs are an ideal place to plant those seeds, so they grow and prosper in a tax-efficient vehicle. You get to enjoy all the fruits of your labour, and any gains and income are kept out of the reach of the taxman.”

Despite the current market volatility, it is important to stick to your financial plans. Investments can outperform savings over the long term. Losing out on valuable tax-free stocks and shares ISA allowances can damage your returns in the long run.

“The annual ISA allowance is a use-it-or-lose-it scenario – you cannot roll over any unused allowance into the next tax year,” said Coatsworth. “Importantly, for anyone worried about the Middle East crisis and what might happen for markets near-term, you can put money into your ISA now and wait until another day to invest.”

So where are DIY investors putting their money? We look at the most popular funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), investment trusts and stocks that Interactive Investor (ii) and AJ Bell ISA customers put their cash into so far in this tax year.

Most popular ISA funds

These were the most popular funds and ETFs with ii’s ISA customers in the tax year so far:

^{Source: Interactive Investor, as of 25 March.}

Meanwhile, ISA investors on AJ Bell’s platforms bought the following:

^{Source: AJ Bell/Dodl. Based on net buys in ISAs and Lifetime ISAs between 7 April 2025 and close on 24 March 2026. *Excluding AJ Bell funds.}

Both lists highlight the obvious demand for gold and silver investments among ii ISA customers, as well as for global index tracker funds.

“Metal prices went wild in 2025, and investors have sought different ways to get exposure, either through individual shares in miners or a basket of them, or through ETFs that track specific commodities such as gold and silver,” said Coatsworth.

Looking for more fund inspiration? Read our guide to ETF ideas for your ISA.

Most popular ISA investment trusts

These were the most popular investment trusts among AJ Bell and ii ISA customers:

^{Source: Interactive Investor / AJ Bell/Dodl.}

“The investment trust choices feature a handful of perennial favourites like Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT) and City of London (LON:CTY), together with a few specialists including BlackRock World Mining (LON:BRWM),” said Coatsworth.

Scottish Mortgage, City of London, Alliance Witan (LON:ALW) and F&C Investment Trust (LON:FCIT) are all ‘dividend heroes’ – trusts that have increased their dividend payments for 20+ years. This means that these trusts are generating consistently increasing levels of income for the investors holding them in their ISA.

We’ve asked the experts for their favourite investment trusts for your ISA in a separate article.

Most popular ISA stocks

The turbulent geopolitical setup in recent weeks makes it unsurprising that oil investments, as well as defence stocks, dominate most ISA investors’ stock picks.

“Defence stocks like BAE Systems (LON:BA.) and Rolls Royce (LON:RR.) have seen strong customer demand amid the uncertain global geopolitical backdrop and increased government defence spending,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investments at Interactive Investor. “BP (LON:BP.) and Glencore (LON:GLEN) have also been popular choices, having enjoyed strong share price gains this tax year thanks to the strong performance for commodities like copper and oil.”

^{Source: Interactive Investor / AJ Bell/Dodl.}

“Aside from UK PLC, mega cap tech has been a popular choice with ii investors who continue to buy shares of the AI stock market darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA),” Scholar added. “After a rough start to 2025, the EV giant has been rebounding this tax year.”