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The most popular funds of 2025
Investors were in risk-management mode during 2025, with passive trackers and money market funds among the most popular with investors through the year
Deciding which funds to invest in for 2026? Data from AJ Bell reveals that passive funds have been all the rage with investors on its DIY investment platform during 2025.
The list of the most popular funds of 2025 reflects a preference on the part of DIY investors for passive exposure to global markets as well as defensive assets like gold, though US stocks are still in vogue, with two of the top ten funds tracking the flagship S&P 500 index.
In the everlasting debate over passive vs active investing, DIY investors are showing a clear preference for passive funds.
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Most popular funds and trusts (all types) with AJ Bell’s DIY investors in 2025
HSBC FTSE All World Index
Fidelity Index World
iShares Physical Gold ETF
L&G Global Technology Index Trust
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity
Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index
SSGA SPDR S&P 500 ETF
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income
Based on £ net flows on AJ Bell’s DIY investor platform from 1 January 2025 to 2 December 2025.
“Tracker funds and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) dominated the list of most popular funds as investors sought convenience and lower costs,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. “Rather than pay more for active management in the hope of outperformance, they’ve gone for the cheaper option to simply track the market.”
Of the three active funds that made the top ten, two (Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity and 100% Equity funds) have passive investments under the hood.
“They are only considered active funds because Vanguard is making active decisions about asset allocation, but it uses passive funds to get market exposure,” explained Coatsworth.
The only truly actively-managed strategy to make the top ten list was an investment trust, JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (LON:JGGI).
The most popular active and passive funds of 2025
During 2025, DIY investors mainly used passive funds to gain exposure to global stock market indices (including US and UK stocks), gold and technology.
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Most popular passive funds with AJ Bell’s DIY investors in 2025
HSBC FTSE All World Index
Fidelity Index World
iShares Physical Gold ETF
L&G Global Technology Index Trust
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index
SSGA SPDR S&P 500 ETF
Vanguard FTSE All World
Vanguard FTSE 100
UBS S&P 500
Based on £ net flows on AJ Bell’s DIY investor platform from 1 January 2025 to 2 December 2025.
“Tracking a global equities benchmark is a simple and low-cost way to invest. It’s like buying an assorted box of biscuits,” said Coatsworth. “Rather than spending ages in the supermarket choosing which brand or product type to buy, you just put the collection in your basket and get a multitude of different tastes and flavours.”
Investors’ choice of active funds, meanwhile, reflected demand for Vanguard’s LifeStrategy funds (which offer investors different weightings between equities and bonds, and as such convenient risk management for different stages of life).
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Most popular active funds with AJ Bell’s DIY investors in 2025
Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity
Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity
Royal London Short Term Money Market
Artemis Global Income
Blue Whale Growth
Polar Capital Global Technology
Fundsmith Equity
Rathbone Global Opportunities
Fidelity Global Technology
Based on £ net flows on AJ Bell’s DIY investor platform from 1 January 2025 to 2 December 2025.
Royal London Short Term Money Market Fund, which like all money market funds offers cash-like risk and returns, came in above all funds outside the Vanguard LifeStrategy range – further underscoring the notion that investors have adopted a cautious, risk-averse approach this year.
The most popular investment trusts of 2025
According to AJ Bell’s data JPMorgan Global Growth & Income was the most popular investment trust of 2025 – and the only truly active strategy to make the top 10 funds across all categories – despite having underperformed the wider market this year, returning 2.6% compared to MSCI All Countries World index in pound terms.
Coatsworth highlighted that the trust has traded at a discount to its net asset value since the summer, having previously been at a premium.
“It adopted a more cautious tone earlier this year, which might have surprised some investors who thought the investment trust was a permabull,” he said.
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Most popular investment trusts with AJ Bell’s DIY investors in 2025
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income
City of London Investment Trust
Scottish Mortgage
F&C Investment Trust
Greencoat UK Wind
TwentyFour Select Monthly Income
Alliance Witan
Law Debenture
Henderson Far East Income
BlackRock World Mining Trust
Based on £ net flows on AJ Bell’s DIY investor platform from 1 January 2025 to 2 December 2025.
Other popular trusts this year include stalwarts like City of London (LON:CTY) and Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT).
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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.
