10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 18 April 2025

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

In a trading week shortened to four days by the Easter break, the top three in this list of 10 most-bought stocks in ISAs on the ii platform were unchanged for an unprecedented third week in a row.

High yielding insurer Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN) continues to lead the pack followed by underperforming oil major BP (LSE:BP.) and popular aero engine giant Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.).

Elsewhere, a terrible year for John Wood Group (LSE:WG.) took another turn for the worse, certainly in terms of the share price. The struggling oil infrastructure firm confirmed it had received a “holistic non-binding conditional proposal” from UAE-based Sidara worth 35p per Wood share.

Wood management said the offer, which also includes a possible cash injection of $450 million (£336 million), “represents the better option for Wood’s shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders”. On that basis, they would “be minded” to recommend it to shareholders.

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But Wood shares fell to a new low of 19.2p on Friday, with investors clearly unimpressed. And Sidara could still make an offer on less favourable terms. Only last summer, Wood shares were trading well above 200p.

There are two first-timers in this week’s most-bought list - Pantheon Resources (LSE:PANR) and CapAI (LSE:CPAI). The former became popular when its share price plunged by 40% last Monday. The slump followed disappointing results from the first of six flow test intervals in its Megrez-1 well in Alaska.

Investors have been excited about prospects at Pantheon this year, with the shares as high as 73p just a few weeks ago, having started 2025 at just 29p.

Chief executive Max Easley said: “While at face value it appears disappointing that the first and deepest interval did not produce material hydrocarbons, when you take a closer look, the data we gathered leaves us with increased confidence in the five shallower and more productive horizons that remain to be tested.”

capAI has had an incredible year, so far. Its shares could be picked up for less than 0.04p at the start of 2025, but on Friday traded as high last 0.53 for a calendar year gain of over 1,400%. The company, still worth only £14 million, announced a refined operating strategy a week ago, which it said would “substantially grow the business while mitigating dilution for shareholders”. The three-pillar strategy - Identify, Incubate, and Invent - will “drive the development of transformative AI systems”.

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At the beginning of April, capAI appointed Professor Ronjon Nag to the board. He said: “I am totally committed to developing capAI into a major player in the AI space”. Now, we hear that capAI is in advanced discussions with R42, Professor Nag’s US venture capital firm, about a proposed alliance.

Finally, Glencore (LSE:GLEN) has bounced back into the top 10 after dropping to 13th place the week before. The share price has partially recovered from a multi-year low at 205p earlier this month, but remains well below the 12-month high above 500p reached in May 2024. 

The price rise comes as expectations for the price of key commodities, including coal, improve. And, although analysts at both Barclays and UBS have just reduced their price targets for Glencore, the former still has an objective of 420p (previously 420p), while the Swiss broker drops from 480p to 400p.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

There was little movement among the most-bought funds and investment trusts last week, with just one new entry to the top 10 table: JPMorgan Global Growth & Income Ord (LSE:JGGI). This investment trust, which invests in around 50 “best idea” global stocks, regularly features in our monthly investment trust top 10 table.

Its top holdings are four of the Magnificent Seven technology stocks (Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta Platforms Inc Class A (NASDAQ:META) and NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA)), which has hit short-term performance numbers as Trump’s tariffs have led to a sharp increase in stock market volatility over the past two months.

Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT) is another investment trust that has seen its performance heavily influenced by Trump’s plans. It isn’t a technology trust, but does have a lot of exposure to tech trends and themes. It invests in global businesses, including up to 30% in private companies that are tapping into technological advancements. Last week it slipped from pole position to third place in our rankings.

Taking the top spot is Royal London Short Term Money Market, as investors look for a place to park their cash. This fund invests in cash-like instruments to yield around 4.5%, without any of volatility from the stock and bond markets.

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In second is tracker fund Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity. It is joined in the top 10 by five other tracker funds: HSBC FTSE All-World Index, Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index, Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity, L&G Global Technology Indexand Fidelity Index World.

Flying the flag for the UK is City of London Ord (LSE:CTY), an investment trust that has raised its dividend each year since 1966. It mainly invests in FTSE 100 companies that demonstrate good prospects for growing their profits and dividends.

Funds and trusts section written by ii’s Kyle Caldwell.