Every month, we look at the bestselling funds, stocks and trusts among DIY investors – and the last three months have taken investors on a rollercoaster ride.
After a dramatic sell-off at the start of April, markets have recovered strongly over the past two and a half months as discount-hungry investors sought out buying opportunities and Donald Trump paused the worst of his tariff threats.
The S&P 500 is now around 9% higher than it was at market close on 2 April, just before Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement. Global markets have enjoyed a similar recovery.
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This trend translates through to buying activity on retail investment platforms, with data from Interactive Investor showing that global equity funds were among the most popular products in June.
Artemis Global Income and Ranmore Global Equity both feature in the top 10, as the second and third most-bought active funds on the platform.
The HSBC FTSE All World Index, the Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity Fund, and the Vanguard FTSE All-Cap Index all feature in the top 10 index funds or ETFs.
Three global portfolios also feature in the list of most-bought investment trusts: Scottish Mortgage, JP Morgan Global Growth & Income, and Alliance Witan.
“While the uptick in stock market volatility earlier this year will have been unnerving at the time, global markets have in the past couple of months been in recovery mode,” said Kyle Caldwell, funds editor at Interactive Investor.
“It has served as a reminder that time and patience are key traits when it comes to investing. In particular, owning the market via a global index fund continues to be a very popular strategy,” he added.
This doesn’t mean investors have put the blinkers on when it comes to geopolitical risks. The bestselling active and passive funds this month were both defensive plays – the Royal London Short-Term Money Market Fund, and the iShares Physical Gold ETF.
Meanwhile, the bestselling stock was UK aerospace company Rolls-Royce, which has benefited from increased buying activity among investors as the government increases its defence budget in response to new threats.
Most popular stocks
While Rolls-Royce was the bestselling stock overall in June, jumping from second to first place, BAE Systems also made it into the top table this month, occupying fifth position.
Many investors believe the companies will be able to grow their earnings as governments look to boost national security.
This has become more of a priority for governments since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – and Trump’s isolationist policy has only accelerated the trend. NATO and its allies are conscious that the US is no longer as reliable an ally as it was in the past.
At the recent Spending Review, the UK government committed to spending 2.6% of GDP on defence by 2027, with an ambition to reach 3% in the next Parliament. At the NATO summit, prime minister Keir Starmer outlined a further commitment to spend 5% of UK GDP on national security by 2035.
Rolls-Royce’s appearance at the top of the leaderboard is hardly surprising, according to Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.
“It is up by more than 10% over the past month, and more than 60% year-to-date,” she said. “Longer-term, Rolls Royce is the best-performing stock on the FTSE 100 over a two, three and five-year time period.”
BAE Systems is also up by more than 60% over the past six months.
Bestselling stocks in June
- Rolls-Royce
- Tesla
- BP
- Metals One
- BAE Systems
- The Smarter Web Company
- Glencore
- Consilium Group
- Rio Tinto
- Wizz Air
Source: Interactive Investor.
Most popular funds
As well as a large number of global equity funds, several defensive plays made it into the top funds this month, including a couple of short-term money market funds and funds with exposure to the gold price.
The iShares Physical Gold ETC was the best-selling passive fund. This gives cheap and straightforward exposure to the gold price, without the inconvenience, risk and cost associated with buying and storing the yellow metal yourself.
One of the advantages of a gold ETC is that it is physically backed by gold bullion.
Similarly, the Jupiter Gold & Silver Fund features in the list of most-bought active funds, but this is a very different kind of product to a gold ETC.
The fund invests in companies with exposure to gold and silver. This could include assets like gold mining companies, which come with a range of different risks and opportunities to simply buying the metal itself.
Silver also has different characteristics to gold and can behave in a more volatile way. We explore the pros and cons in a separate piece: “Is now a good time to invest in silver?”
Beyond this, the top funds list also includes some portfolios that invest in out-of-favour companies, with investors hoping to benefit from a catch-up in valuations.
“Fund managers who hunt for value shares do not simply buy on valuation grounds alone. They also look for, and hope for, a catalyst to revive an underpriced company’s financial fortunes. This could be in the form of a restructuring, refinancing or management change,” said Caldwell.
Ranmore Global Equity and Orbis Global Balanced Standard are two examples of value funds.
Bestselling active funds in June
- Royal London Short-Term Money Market Fund
- Artemis Global Income
- Ranmore Global Equity
- Orbis Global Balanced Standard
- Artemis SmartGARP European Equity
- Royal London Short-Term Money Market Fund
- Jupiter Gold & Silver
- Fundsmith Equity
- Jupiter India
- Artemis UK Select
Bestselling index funds and ETFs in June
- iShares Physical Gold
- Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
- Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF
- HSBC FTSE All World Index
- L&G Global Technology Index Trust
- Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity
- Vanguard FTSE All Cap Index
- Fidelity Index World
- VanEck Defence ETF
Source: Interactive Investor.
Most popular investment trusts
Specialist investment trust Tiger Royalties shot into pole position in June, coming from a place of relative obscurity.
“It has seen its popularity climb markedly on the back of strong short-term share price gains since it recently pivoted from being an early-stage natural resources investor to focusing on cryptocurrency opportunities, including meme coins,” said Caldwell.
“Its share price has more than doubled since mid-May, but there have also been sizable daily losses since its share price hit a peak on 25 June.”
Caldwell also points out that the trust is trading on a “huge premium”, which puts investors at risk of losses if sentiment fades and the share price contracts back towards (or below) the value of the assets held.
Beyond this, some familiar favourites feature in the top 10 including Scottish Mortgage, the global equity trust.
The trust has undergone a challenging period in recent years, underperforming the benchmark on a three and five-year basis. This can largely be attributed to a weak period in 2022 when rising interest rates hurt the growth-oriented trust.
However, Scottish Mortgage is now showing signs of getting back on track. The trust’s latest factsheet (dated 31 May) shows it has beaten the benchmark by a significant margin on a one-year basis, with share price returns of 12.7% and NAV returns of 16.7%. This compares to 7.9% from the benchmark, the FTSE All-World Index.
The trust’s discount is narrower than it was two years ago, now 11% compared to 21% in June 2023.
Bestselling investment trusts in June
- Tiger Royalties & Investments
- Greencoat UK Wind
- Scottish Mortgage
- SDCL Efficiency Income Trust
- City of London
- JPMorgan Global Growth & Income
- NextEnergy Solar
- 3i Group
- Alliance Witan
- Primary Health Properties
Source: Interactive Investor.
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