10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 17 May 2024

With the new tax year under way, 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

For the first time since early March there is no Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) in the top 10 most-bought shares in ISAs on the interactive investor platform.

The high street lender, the most widely owned share in the UK, dropped to 14th place after surging to prices not seen since just before the Covid crash in February 2020. It closed at 55.52p at the end of last week and traded as high as 56.14p Monday morning, up 35% since early February.

There were far more sellers than buyers last week, with likely profit taking becoming a trend over the past few weeks. Lloyds stock hit the top of its three-year trading range between 40p and 50p mid-March, and the subsequent move higher is just the third significant break above 50p since March 2021. 

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Another surprise is easyJet (LSE:EZJ). After its maiden appearance last week, easyJet raced to first place. But it’s not been great news for the share price.

After a wobble on concerns raised by rivals about softer pricing this summer, the budget airline announced last Thursday that its chief executive of almost seven years, Johan Lundgren, will leave the company next year.

Half-year results were in line with expectations given the carrier had flagged key numbers a month earlier. And succession planning is sensible - finance director Kenton Jarvis will take over from Lundgren. So it looks like worries about weaker ticket pricing are overhanging the sector. But investors shrugged off those concerns, happy to pick up stock at prices not seen since December 2023 and a level where the shares have previously found support.

The two highest new entries last week – GameStop Corp Class A (NYSE:GME) and Ocado Group (LSE:OCDO) - are loosely related. You may remember GameStop from a few years ago when the share price rocketed as much as 2,500%. Now, after trending lower for three years, there’s renewed interest in the stock.

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It’s all part of a new meme-stock frenzy, where a group of investors find a stock that has lots of investors holding short positions (bears), then try and push the price higher in what’s known as a “bear squeeze”. As the price increases, the sellers buy back their short positions which adds further fuel to the rally.

GameStop had a significant number of its shares sold short, so was an obvious target. In the UK, Ocado has also been a favourite among short sellers, which perhaps explains buying interest last week, although gains have been nowhere near as eye-catching as at GameStop.

Elsewhere, BAE Systems (LSE:BA.) is also back in top flight after a two-week break.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity fund reclaimed the top spot of the most-bought ISA fund and trust list last week. It knocked Scottish Mortgage (LSE:SMT) down one place.

The two strategies are always popular, but are very different investment propositions. Vanguard’s fund invests in its own index funds, covering global stock and bond markets, while Scottish Mortgage seeks to find innovative public and private companies. Scottish Mortgage shares have risen 10% this year and Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity is up 8%.

There were two new entries on the list last week: NextEnergy Solar Ord (LSE:NESF) and Fidelity Index World. NESF shares have fallen 15% this year, suggesting that investors could be looking for a bargain. 

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Alliance Trust Ord (LSE:ATST) continued to be popular, rising two places to seventh. Royal London Short Term Money Market also rose, moving to third from fourth place. It offers an inflation-beating 5.22% yield. L&G Global Technology Index and Fundsmith Equity were unchanged in fifth and sixth place. 

Jupiter India and Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW) dropped in popularity last week, falling to fourth and 10th place respectively. The funds that fell off the list last week were HSBC FTSE All World Index and Vanguard US Equity Index. 

JPMorgan Global Growth & Income, Vanguard FTSE All World Index and Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index were just outside the top 10. 

Funds and trusts section written by ii’s fixed income lead Sam Benstead.