The top funds and stocks to buy according to DIY investors

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Every month, we look at the stocks, funds and investment trusts that DIY investors have bought through investment platforms.

Interactive Investor, the UK’s second-largest investing platform for private investors, has revealed a shift away from US stocks, with only one US-listed company making the top ten for most-bought stocks, funds and investment trusts on its platform during January.

Most notably, this means Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) dropped off the list of most-bought stocks on Interactive Investor’s platform for the first time since June 2025.

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Nvidia’s shares fell around 8% in the three months to 2 February, as concerns over a possible artificial intelligence (AI) bubble mount.

“Buying interest in the world’s most valuable company which has been at the heart of the AI frenzy has waned, hand in hand with its share price performance,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.

DIY investors’ top stock picks for January

Instead of the US megacaps, investors piled into FTSE 100 heavyweights like Rolls-Royce (LON:RR.), Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Fresnillo (LON:FRES). Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was the only non-FTSE 100 stock on the list.

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The most-bought stocks in January (Interactive Investor)
Row 0 - Cell 0	Equity
1	Rolls-Royce
2	Glencore
3	Fresnillo
4	Microsoft
5	Legal & General
6	Lloyds Banking
7	Diageo
8	BP
9	BAE Systems
10	Aviva

^{Source: Interactive Investor}

“Shares in dividend payers like Legal & General (LON:LGEN), Lloyds (LON:LLOY), BP (LON:BP.) and Diageo (LON:DGE) retained their spots among the most bought list of stocks last month,” said Scholar. “The backdrop of global geopolitical instability also supported demand for miners like Glencore and defence stocks like Rolls Royce.”

The omission of Nvidia wasn’t universal. It came second, behind Tesla, on the list of the most-bought stock on Freetrade during January.

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The most-bought stocks in January (Freetrade)
Row 0 - Cell 0	Equity
1	Tesla
2	Nvidia
3	Microsoft
4	Micron Technology
5	Strategy
6	Alphabet
7	Amazon
8	AST SpaceMobile
9	IREN
10	Rolls-Royce

^{Source: Freetrade}

“Growth and momentum are still squarely in focus for retail investors,” said Freetrade analyst Duncan Ferris. “Megacap tech dominance tells us the AI narrative continues to drive interest despite growing analyst concerns over ballooning spending and return on investment.”

DIY investors’ top funds for January

Meanwhile, investors’ top fund picks during January reflected a risk-averse approach. Gold funds were popular choices on both platforms, as were money market funds, but no US-focused regional funds made the top ten list on either platform.

These were the most-bought funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Interactive Investor during January:

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The most-bought active and passive funds in January (Interactive Investor)
Row 0 - Cell 0	Active Open-Ended Fund	Index Fund or ETF
1	Artemis Global Income \| Acc	iShares Physical Silver ETC
2	Royal London Short Term Money Market \| Acc	iShares Physical Gold ETC
3	Jupiter Gold & Silver	Global X Silver Miners ETF
4	Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
5	Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity	Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF \| Acc
6	Royal London Short Term Money Market \| Dis	Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF
7	Artemis Global Income \| Dis	Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index
8	Ranmore Global Equity Institutional	Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF \| Dis
9	Ninety One Global Gold	HSBC FTSE All World Index
10	Artemis SmartGARP Global EM Equity	WisdomTree Physical Silver

^{Source: Interactive Investor}

The most-bought funds on Freetrade during January were:

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The most-bought active and passive funds in January (Interactive Investor)
Row 0 - Cell 0	Fund
1	Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity Fund Acc
2	Vanguard Short-Term Money Market Fund Acc
3	Royal London Short-Term Money Market Fund Acc
4	Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity Fund Acc
5	Artemis Global Income Fund Acc
6	HSBC FTSE ALL World Index Fund Acc
7	Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Fund Acc
8	abrdn Sterling Money Market Fund Acc
9	Vanguard LifeStrategy 40% Equity Fund Acc
10	Ninety One Global Gold Fund Acc

^{Source: Freetrade}

Vanguard LifeStrategy funds, which offer different proportions of equity to bond exposure, were popular choices across both platforms.

“The strong presence of set-and-forget style products and heavily diversified index funds indicates investors are positioning for the long-term,” said Ferris.

The most-bought investment trusts in January

Interactive Investor also publishes the most-bought investment trusts on its platform.

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The most-bought investment trusts in January
Row 0 - Cell 0	Investment Trust
1	Scottish Mortgage
2	Greencoat UK Wind
3	Seraphim Space
4	BlackRock World Mining
5	City of London
6	Polar Capital Technology
7	Temple Bar
8	Henderson Far East Income
9	3i Group
10	NextEnergy Solar

^{Source: Interactive Investor}

Tech and innovation-focused Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT) took top spot, while the presence of Seraphim Space (LON:SSIT) and Polar Capital Technology Trust (LON:PCT) also confounded the risk-off picks seen in investors’ stock and fund picks.

Read our explainers on investment funds and the best investment trusts for beginners for more information and inspiration for your portfolio.

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Dan is a financial journalist who, prior to joining MoneyWeek, spent five years writing for OPTO, an investment magazine focused on growth and technology stocks, ETFs and thematic investing.

Before becoming a writer, Dan spent six years working in talent acquisition in the tech sector, including for credit scoring start-up ClearScore where he first developed an interest in personal finance.

Dan studied Social Anthropology and Management at Sidney Sussex College and the Judge Business School, Cambridge University. Outside finance, he also enjoys travel writing, and has edited two published travel books.