Investors played it safe in March as the end of the tax year looms, with not much change from the previous month, data from investment platform interactive investor shows.
The UK’s oldest investment Trust F&C returns to the top 10 list and defence company BAE Systems enters the most-bought shares compilation as it increased its spending due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Plus, the buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) is still flying high as Nvidia takes the top spot on the most popular shares. Tech stock Tesla stayed put too despite its quarterly sales taking a hit for the first time in nearly four years, and as a result, its share price fell 5%.
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Here’s a rundown of the most popular funds, investment trusts and equities that investors have added to their portfolios.
The most popular funds to invest in
With it being the final month before the end of tax year, investors opted for global funds in March as they continued to focus on passive strategies.
“Core global funds that passively track the up and down movements of global stock markets feature prominently in the top 10,” says Kyle Caldwell, collectives specialist at interactive investor.
These include the HSBC FTSE All World Index, all of the Vanguard funds and Fidelity Index World.
Three Vanguard funds also crept up the ranks in the top 10, with its LifeStrategy 80% Equity taking the number two spot – up from fourth place.
Fundsmith Equity managed by Terry Smith also moved up one spot, overtaking Jupiter India and now sitting at number one. According to ii, the fund is up 9.6% in the year to the end of March and since the fund launched in 2010, it’s returned 15.8% annually.
Active fund Royal London Short Term Money has been in the top 10 since April 2023, but bumped down to sixth place, from fifth.
- Fundsmith Equity
- Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
- L&G Global Technology Index
- Jupiter India
- HSBC FTSE All World Index
- Royal London Short Term Money Market
- Vanguard US Equity Index
- Vanguard Lifestrategy 100% Equity
- Vanguard Lifestrategy 60% Equity
- Fidelity Index World
The most popular investment trusts
In March, the only new addition to the most-bought investment trusts was from F&C, the UK’s oldest investment trust which last appeared in October. Caldwell says: “The global multi-manager strategy is highly diversified with more than 400 holdings.”
Similar to February, investors favoured six income investment strategies in March, with JPMorgan Global Growth & Income, Greencoat UK Wind and City of London offering attractive yields.
We can also see investors have taken to India as India Capital Growth remains in the top 10. “India’s stock market has been a strong performer over the past couple of years, with one positive driver being strong economic growth,” says Caldwell.
“The attractions of India are well known. It is blessed with favourable demographics, including a young population.”
Alliance Trust fell three spots in March from second place to fifth in March.
- Scottish Mortgage (SMT)
- Alliance Trust (ATST)
- JP Morgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI)
- Greencoat UK Wind (UKW)
- Polar Capital Technology (PCT)
- Allianz Technology (ATT)
- City of London (CTY)
- India Capital Growth (IGC)
- F&C Investment Trust (FCIT)
- Pershing Square Holdings (PSH)
The most popular equities for investors
FTSE 100 heavyweights remained dominant on the top 10 equities in March, with Vodafone, Lloyds Banking Group and L&G staying put. But, we did see stocks such as Glencore, BT Group, and HSBC fall off this list in March.
“All three are nursing losses year-to-date having underperformed the wider UK blue-chip index in the first quarter,” says Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor.
AI stocks continue to be a top pick for investors with Nvidia hitting the top spot; its stock price has rocketed by nearly 250% in the past year and up nearly 90% in just the first quarter of 2024.
The L&G Global Technology Index is also still on the list and Tesla moved up the ranks from seventh place to third. This is despite Musk’s EV empire not performing so well in 2024, as its latest report showed a 9% drop in deliveries in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. As a result, Tesla’s share price fell by 5%. But Scholar says: “Its loyal band of followers are clearly using this pullback as an opportunity to ‘buy the dip."
Plus, the most popular shares list welcomed BAE Systems after its share price shot up 20% since January, “supported by strong military spending amid the Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East,” Scholar adds.
- Nvidia (NVDA)
- Rolls Royce Holdings (RR)
- Tesla INC (TSLA)
- MicroStrategy (MSTR)
- Vodafone Group (VOD)
- Helium One Global (HE1)
- Legal & General (LGEN)
- Lloyds Banking (LLOY)
- Rio Tinto (RIO)
- BAE Systems (BA)
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