Top funds, stocks and trusts to invest in

Every month, we look at the bestselling funds, stocks and trusts among DIY investors.

Data from investment platform Interactive Investor gives us a good indication of how everyday investors feel about the global markets, and the results from July tell a tale of a fragmented global economy.A

Global stock markets are adjusting to the turmoil that Trump’s tariffs unleashed earlier this year, but are still enduring ups and downs. With UK inflation proving stubborn, investors are turning to cryptocurrency funds to hedge themselves.

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The Smarter Web Company (AQSE:SWC) made the top ten list for the second month running, underscoring investor appetite for crypto. Like MicroStrategy in the US, The Smarter Web Company has an explicit strategy of holding crypto assets on its balance sheet.

Despite increasing efforts to bring the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza to a close, geopolitical tensions are still high, and as such defence stocks remain popular among investors.

The S&P 500 has endured a challenging 2025, up just 7.6% in the year to 4 August, but US stocks including members of the Magnificent Seven continue to feature high in the rankings of investors’ most popular stocks.

And in a further indication of investor faith in the stock market, all four of the investment trusts to have featured on the most-bought list for the first time in July are equity-focused trusts.

Most popular stocks

Topping the most-bought stocks list in July was critical minerals exploration company Metals One (LON:MET1).

“Somewhere towards the top of the risk spectrum are small exploration companies and one in particular [Metals One] has caught the eye of the most determined ii customers,” said Richard Hunter, head of Markets at Interactive Investor.

“Unknown in February when the shares traded at 2.4p, feverish speculation in May around a potential acquisition in Norway which would give the company access to gold, copper and nickel deposits, was followed by unsubstantiated claims from outside the company of a massive uranium find,” he added.

Metal One’s share price has fallen back since peaking at 50p in May, especially as the uranium claims haven’t been confirmed, but it remains popular among Interactive Investor’s customers.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) are experiencing contrasting fortunes – the former having become the world’s first $4 trillion company last month while Tesla’s shares have fallen over 20% this year. But both remained popular with retail investors in July.

Last month’s most-bought stock, Rolls Royce (LON:RR.), remains a top pick among investors, though it has slipped into third place.

Pharmaceutical stock GSK (LON:GSK) also snuck into the top ten during July.

^{Source: Interactive Investor.}

Most popular funds

The appearance of the VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators UCITS ETF (LON:DAPP) on July’s list of the most popular passive funds is another indication of investors’ appetite for cryptocurrencies.

The Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity Fund took top spot among passive funds for the first time, displacing the iShares Physical Gold ETC (LON:SGLN) which moved down to fifth place.

Blue Whale Growth Fund marks a new entrant to the list of the most-bought active funds, coming in at ninth during July.

“The high-conviction fund, launched in 2017, currently has 27 holdings. Among its top 10 positions are chip-maker Nvidia, rideshare and food delivery platform Uber and Hynix, a South Korean supplier of high bandwidth memory chips,” said Sam Benstead, fixed income lead at Interactive Investor.

^{Source: Interactive Investor.}

Most popular investment trusts

Four new investment trusts made the top ten most-bought investment trusts during July, and all invest in equities.

This, said Benstead, is “indicative of rising investor confidence as stock markets around the world jumped higher in July”.

Two of the top ten are technology focused. Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT) is frequently one of the most popular investment trusts with investors, and the other, Polar Capital Technology Trust (LON:PCT), is one of the four new entrants.

“The other big theme in July was income,” said Benstead. Five of the top ten – City of London (LON:CTYA), Greencoat UK Wind (LON:GRP), Henderson Far East Income (LON:HFEL), NextEnergy Solar Fund (LON:NESF) and JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (LON:JGGI) – all have income objectives, paying yields of 4.3%, 8.4%, 10.8%, 11.2% and 4% respectively.

^{Source: Interactive Investor.}