What are people investing in? Best-selling funds of September 2020
By Mike Narouei, Content Producer at Boring Money
6 Oct, 2020
Best-selling funds on some of the UK's largest investment platforms in September 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 September 2020
We asked some of the biggest online investing platforms in the UK - AJ Bell Youinvest, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, and Interactive Investor - what their customers had been up to in September.
Top 10 funds from AJ Bell
Most popular investment funds bought through AJ Bell.
Fundsmith Equity I Acc
VT AJ Bell Adventurous I Acc research
VT AJ Bell Moderately Adv I Acc
VT AJ Bell Balanced I Acc
VT AJ Bell Global Growth I Acc
Baillie Gifford American B Acc
Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity A Acc
Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity A Acc
Fidelity Index World P Acc
Baillie Gifford Positive Change B Acc
Top 10 funds from Fidelity
Most popular investment funds bought through Fidelity in September 2020, based on net sales.
Rathbones Global Opportunities Fund i
Baillie Gifford American Fund
Baillie Gifford Positive Change Fund
Fidelity Global Special Situations Fund
Fidelity Index World Fund
Fidelity American Special Situations Fund
Baillie Gifford Pacific Fund
Baillie Gifford European Fund
BlackRock Continental European Fund
Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth Fund
Top 10 funds from Hargreaves Lansdown
Most popular investment funds bought through Hargreaves Lansdown in September 2020.
(In alphabetical order.)
Baillie Gifford American Class B - Accumulation (GBP)
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery Class B - Accumulation (GBP)
Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth
Baillie Gifford Managed
Baillie Gifford Positive Change
Fundsmith Equity Class I - Accumulation (GBP)
JPMorgan Emerging Markets
LF Blue Whale Growth
Rathbone Global Opportunities Class S - Accumulation (GBP)
Troy Trojan (Class X)
Top 10 funds from Interactive Investor
Most popular investment funds bought through Interactive Investor in September 2020.
Fundsmith Equity
Baillie Gifford American
Baillie Gifford Positive Change
Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery
Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth
Baillie Gifford Managed
Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity
LF Blue Whale Growth
Rathbone Global Opportunities
The Common Denominators
If we merge these lists, when we look at how customers of these platforms voted with their feet in September 2020, the most popular funds were:
(In alphabetical order.)
Baillie Gifford American *
Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth
Baillie Gifford Positive Change *
Fundsmith Equity
Rathbones Global Opportunities
* indicates presence in the Top 10 list across all platforms
Data correct as at 1 October 2020; information sourced directly from the platforms.
Emma Wall, Head of Investment Analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said regarding investment themes this month:
Three key themes emerge from the list of most bought funds this month; growth, doing good, and capital preservation. These three themes speak to investors’ priorities over the last year. Number one, as growth stocks such as tech companies have charged ahead, delivering great performance, so investors have followed – seen here as flows into Baillie Gifford American, Fundsmith Equity and Blue Whale Growth. Investors should be mindful that a resilient portfolio is a well-diversified one, and they should hold value-tilted funds alongside those which are invested in growth companies.
Number two, ethical and ESG investments have become increasingly popular as social and regulatory pressures have encouraged us to ask whether our investments do good as much as do they do well – as represented on the list by Baillie Gifford Positive Change. And number three, the increased volatility caused by coronavirus has focused the mind on investments such as Troy Trojan which prioritise protecting your money in a downturn as much as chasing a market rally.