Each month we look at the top funds and equities attracting investors.
According to data from investment platform Interactive Investor, income-focused strategies remained popular in October as investors continued to seek out options to boost their investment income amid inflation and the rising cost of living.
Global funds were also popular, accounting for seven out of the 10 most bought funds in October, with Fundsmith and Scottish Mortgage remaining some of the UK’s most bought investment products in the month.
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Kyle Caldwell, Collectives Editor at Interactive Investor, says: "What has not changed is that Scottish Mortgage and Fundsmith Equity remain hugely popular with our customers, having only dropped one place to second in the rankings. However, as part of a wider trend that's been playing out for around two years, growth strategies have been losing out to income strategies in the popularity stakes.”
Here’s a rundown of the most popular equities, funds and investment trusts investors pumped their money into during October.
The most popular funds to invest in - October 2023
- Royal London Short Term Money Market
- Fundsmith Equity
- Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
- Vanguard Lifestrategy 100% Equity
- HSBC FTSE All World Index
- Jupiter India
- Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index GBP
- Legal & General Global Tech Trust
- Vanguard US Equity Index
- Vanguard FTSE Devopled World EX-UK Equity
Five out of the ten funds belong to Vanguard, the global leader in low-cost passive investment strategies.
The top spot was dominated once again by Royal London Short Term Money Market, which entered ii’s top 10 most-bought table in April and has kept its place each month since.
Money market funds buy short-term cash-like investments, which are much more sensitive to changes in interest rates and can be a better alternative to holding cash in low-yielding investment accounts (and even easy access savings accounts) Royal London Short Term Money Market’s current yield is 5.2%.
The most popular investment trusts in October 2023
These were the most popular investment trusts in October, with the City of London investment trust taking the top spot with investors.
- City of London (CTY)
- Scottish Mortgage (SMT)
- Greencoat UK Wind (UKW)
- Merchants Trust (MRCH)
- Blackrock World Mining Trust (BRWM)
- Alliance Trust (ATST)
- JP Morgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI)
- Gore Street Energy
- HICL Infrastructure PLC (HICL)
- F&C Investment Trust (FCIT)
Income-focused strategies dominated the top buy list in the investment trust space last month. City of London, managed by Job Curtis since 1991 is a consistent income payer having increased dividends every year for 57 years and has long been a favourite of UK income investors.
"The demand for high income is much more prevalent among the most-bought investment trust rankings, with Greencoat UK Wind, BlackRock World Mining, and Merchants Trust offering respective yields of 6.4%, 7.4%, and 5.7%. The latter is one of three new entries in October,” says Caldwell
"Another popular choice is JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (yielding 4%), while Gore Street Energy Storage and HICL Infrastructure were the two other new entrants in October. The duo, which both invest in alternative assets, an area that’s been harmed by higher interest rates, have respective yields of 12.3% and 6.9%,” Caldwell adds.
The most popular equities for investors
Away from funds and trusts, investors leaned into the FTSE heavyweights in October, with Legal & General and Lloyds Banking as some of the most popular.
- Lloyds Banking (LLOY)
- Legal & General (LGEN)
- Barclays (BARC)
- Tesla INC (TSLA)
- Glencore (GLEN)
- EasyJet (EZJ)
- Natwest Group PLC (NWG)
- Aviva (AV)
- BP (BP)
- Horizonte Mineral (HZM)
Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor, says, “Investors have been opportunistically buying more banks this month with Barclays and NatWest among the new entrants. It has been a busy period for banks with earnings season in focus.”
Oil majors BP and Shell have also recently reported their results for the third quarter, and investors were buying these companies in October. “While the global benchmark Brent crude has largely been on the up since June, price action has been more challenging in October. BP reported disappointing earnings on the final day of the month with quarterly profits of $3.3 billion, down from $8.1 billion in the same period last year,” notes Scholar.
Finally, Tesla remains a mainstay of ii customer portfolios. With the shares up around 85% year-to-date, the stock dropped towards the end of the month following an update from battery cell supplier Panasonic which “raised concerns about weaker EV demand.”
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