What are people investing in? Best-selling funds of June 2020
3 July, 2020
Best-selling funds on some of the UK's largest investment platforms in June 2020 - what's 'Top of the Pops' with nearly 2 million investors? Global funds are in fashion and technology continues to shine.....
Best-selling funds in June 2020
As we continue to track what funds people are buying, we can see some mixed behaviours. Lots of us feel understandably anxious about what the future holds and are spreading the risk around, buying into broad global funds or diversified ‘multi-asset’ funds. Others are now seeing opportunities in certain sectors, mostly using funds but sometime picking out individual shares which look cheap to you right now.
We surveyed our readers at the end of June. About half of you told us you had bought over the last month, with a small increase in those now cherry-picking and favouring sector specific stuff. This maps what we can see from recent data from the fund platforms.
What have our readers done over the last month (as at end June)?
Collectively, you have increased the amount you're investing in more specific geographies and sectors, although still the majority are sitting tight.
Looking to what the platforms report, we can see that June did indeed see a mixed-bag of ‘broad brush’ funds and more specific sector funds, with technology continuing its moment in the sun.
We asked some of the biggest online investing platforms in the UK - AJ Bell Youinvest, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor - what their customers had been up to in June
Top 10 funds from AJ Bell
Lindsell Train Global Equity is hanging on in here despite falling from grace with Hargreaves Lansdown customers. But passive funds are also still well represented with this platform. Also notable is how much their customers are buying their own brand, low-cost, ‘ready-meal’ funds which diversify and blend things together on your behalf.
Polar Capital Global Technology confirms the tech trend but reader be aware that this fund announced its ‘soft close’ on the 30th June – having gained an extra £1.6 billion in just three months, the doors have been temporarily shut. Sometimes managers decide that funds get too big, too quickly, and need breathing space to manage money well and in clients’ best interests.
Most popular investment funds bought through AJ Bell in June 2020.
VT AJ Bell Adventurous I Acc
Fundsmith Equity I Acc
VT AJ Bell Moderately Adv I Acc
VT AJ Bell Balanced I Acc
VT AJ Bell Global Growth I Acc
Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity A Acc
Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity A Acc
Lindsell Train Global Equity B GBP Inc
Baillie Gifford American B Acc
Polar Capital Global Tech I Inc GBP
Top 10 funds from Fidelity
Most popular investment funds bought through Fidelity in June 2020, based on net sales.
Rathbones Global Opportunities Fund
Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth Fund
Baillie Gifford American Fund
Fidelity Multi Asset Allocator Fund
Polar Capital Global Technology
Baillie Gifford Positive Change Fund
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery Fund
Jupiter Strategic Bond Fund
Fidelity Multi Asset Open Fund
Fidelity Select 50 Balanced Fund
Top 10 funds from Hargreaves Lansdown
The platform only report the top 10 selling funds (by net investment so buys less any sells) in alphabetical order so we don’t know which is top.
But as a group we can see the almost surreal popularity of Baillie Gifford, along with global growth funds. The UK’s not getting a look in and this must be the first time in a while that the platform has had no passive funds in the top 10.
Most popular investment funds bought through Hargreaves Lansdown in June 2020.
(In alphabetical order.)
Top 10 funds from Interactive Investor
The ever-popular Fundsmith Equity retains the number one spot ahead of Baillie Gifford American and Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity – in second and third positions respectively. Sustainably-focussed Baillie Gifford Positive Change clocks in at fourth, highlighting a growing trend for this style of investing.
Vanguard LifeStrategy 60%, in sixth place, is one of only three passively managed funds on the top 10 list, along with the 80% variant and L&G Global Technology Index Trust in eighth. Popular wisdom is that passive funds do less well in falling markets and investor sentiment suggests slowing interest here this month.
Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth fund is the only new entrant since last month, replacing Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% in 10th place. Baillie Gifford Global Discovery, Lindsell Train Global Equity and Polar Capital Technology fund remain on the top 10 most-bought list.
Most popular investment funds bought through Interactive Investor in June 2020.
Fundsmith Equity
Baillie Gifford American
Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
Baillie Gifford Positive Change
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery
Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity
Lindsell Train Global Equity
L&G Global Tech Index Trust
Polar Capital Global Technology
Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth
As for investment trusts and the perennially popular Scottish Mortgage juggernaut continues its domination.
The Common Denominators
If we merge these lists, when we look at how customers of these platforms voted with their feet in June, the most popular funds were:
(In alphabetical order.)
Baillie Gifford American
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery Fund
Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth
Baillie Gifford Positive Change
Fundsmith Equity
Lindsell Train Global Equity
Polar Capital Global Technology
Rathbones Global Opportunities Fund
Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
Data correct as at 3 July 2020; information sourced from Boring Money readers and directly from the platforms
