10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 12 January 2024

With ISA season under way and tax year-end fast approaching, we look at the investments ii customers have been buying within their ISAs during the previous week. The data includes only real-time trades, not regular investing instructions, and combines the use of both existing funds and new money.

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Top 10 shares in ISAs

Cryptocurrency miner Argo Blockchain (LSE:ARB) remained popular last week, taking top spot in the list of 10 most-bought shares in ISA accounts on the interactive investor platform.

While there was no news from the company itself, the US securities regulator has now approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This got the cryptocurrency community excited about increased demand for bitcoin. However, while the price of bitcoin recently hit $49,000, it fell sharply on Friday and currently trades below $43,000. Argo shares also fell last week, and at 16p have now halved in value since their recent peak at 32p.

ANGLE (LSE:AGL), the previous week’s top stock, fell five places as fewer investors were prepared to buy shares in the small AIM firm after a recent 180% rally. Excitement about potential for its medical device used to fight cancer had attracted attention, although it’s difficult to assess precisely what the financial benefit for the company might be. 

Of the large-cap stocks, oil majors BP (LSE:BP.) and Shell (LSE:SHEL) were in demand. BP was the biggest riser in last week’s most-bought list, jumping eight places to second spot, while Shell was a new entry at number 10. Renewed interest in oil stocks was triggered by a slump in share price at both companies following Shell’s fourth-quarter update.

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BP shares have struggled since the end of October when third-quarter profit missed forecasts because of weak gas trading results. Underlying net profit of $3.3 billion compared with City estimates of $4 billion. And last Monday, Shell warned its chemicals and products division would lose money in the fourth quarter following weaker trading there. It also flagged impairments of as much as $4.5 billion. What’s more, oil prices are about 20% lower than in September last year.

Toward the end of last week, investors were able to pick up BP shares for less than 455p, their lowest price since July. Shell traded below 2,450p for the first time since September.

Bargain hunters also fancied Marks & Spencer Group (LSE:MKS)as its shares dropped 11% from a five-year high. The sell-off came despite better-than-expected Christmas sales, as management issued a cautious outlook and with expectations and comparatives likely to become tougher this year. However, while profit taking is understandable, the shares are not looking especially expensive based on historic valuations.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

The most notable mover among funds and investment trusts in ISAs last week was Jupiter India, which climbed six places to second in the table. There are a couple of big trends at play here. One is that India’s stock market is enjoying a purple patch, with the country’s S&P BSE 100 index the best-performing major stock market since Covid, up 177% since 3 April 2020. The next best market is the Nasdaq 100 index, up 124%.

Investors have also preferred India over China as an investment destination, in part due to the latter’s underwhelming stock market performance over the past couple of years. There are also concerns about political risk in China, with government interventions into certain sectors a couple of years ago still fresh in the memory. India is relatively under-researched and therefore a perfect destination for active fund managers. The Jupiter India fund, run by Avinash Vazirani since 2008, looks to find small and medium-sized companies that are sometimes overlooked. 

Also moving up the table, advancing four places to third, is L&G Global Technology Index Trust. Excitement about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) was the big stock market story of 2023, which boosted share prices of America’s biggest tech companies. It seems many investors expect this trend to continue in 2024, with L&G Global Technology Index Trust one route into the AI theme.  

In terms of movements in and out of the top 10, there’s just one new entrant – Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW). This trust, as the name suggests, invests in UK wind assets. It has a stellar dividend track record, having grown its dividend ahead of RPI inflation each year over the past decade, and offers a dividend yield of 6.8%. Making way for Greencoat is Alliance Trust (LSE:ATST), a global trust that operates under a multi-manager structure.