The most popular funds, stocks and investment trusts according to DIY investors

May was a positive month for the stock market, and DIY investors took advantage to increase their exposure to growth stocks and funds.

Despite the ‘Sell in May’ adage, major indices rose during the month. The S&P 500 soared 5.1%, while the FTSE 100 made modest gains of 0.3%.

Data from investment platform Interactive Investor (ii) shows DIY investors on its platform piled into artificial intelligence (AI) stocks and funds in particular. Semiconductor company Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) was the most-bought stock among ii’s DIY investors during May.

Try 6 free issues of MoneyWeek today

Get unparalleled financial insight, analysis and expert opinion you can profit from.

Start your trial

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

“A combination of surging AI demand, supply shortages and price hikes have pushed [Micron’s] stock to fresh highs and ignited heavy buying among ii customers,” the company’s head of investment, Victoria Scholar said.

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

Meanwhile, the most-bought active funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) reflected a divide between investors minded towards protecting their wealth and those seeking growth.

Which other stocks and funds were the most popular among DIY investors last month?

The most-bought stocks in May

Besides tech megacaps like Micron and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), the rest of ii’s most-bought stocks during May reflect investor appetite for staple UK companies.

“FTSE 100 heavyweights like BP (LON:BP.), Legal & General (LON:LGEN), Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) and Glencore (LON:GLEN) were popular choices among ii customers last month,” said Scholar. “NatWest (LON:NWG) was a new addition while FTSE 250 low-cost carrier easyJet (LON:EZJ) dropped off the list.”

^{Source: Interactive Investor}

The most-bought funds and ETFs in May

Money market funds have been popular picks for defensively-minded investors throughout much of this year, and that remained the case in May with the Royal London Short Term Money Market Fund topping the list of the most popular open-ended funds.

But alongside this, more adventurous strategies such as technology funds were popular among DIY investors, with new entrant VanEck Semiconductor UCITS ETF (LON:SMGB) proving the fourth-most popular passive fund.

“Many semiconductor shares have posted impressive returns so far this year, increasing the demand for funds in this sector,” said Tom Bigley, fund analyst at Interactive Investor.

Bigly noted that Micron, the top holding in VanEck semiconductor, has risen more than 200% so far this year as demand for high-bandwidth memory for AI servers has exceeded supply.

^{Source: Interactive Investor}

Technology was a prominent theme among actively-managed funds too, with two forms of the Polar Capital Global Technology fund appearing in the top 10 list as well as WS Blue Whale Growth Fund.

The most-bought investment trusts in May

Tech and innovation-focused investment trusts were also popular with DIY investors during May. Innovation-focused Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT) retained top spot from the previous month: the trust’s largest holding, SpaceX, is expected to IPO in June, and as such was the focus of much investor hype during the month.

Investing in the space theme was clearly flavour of the month, as Seraphim Space (LON:SSIT) was the third-most popular investment trust on Interactive Investor, just behind the Polar Capital Technology investment trust (LON:PCT).

^{Source: Interactive Investor}