10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 21 February 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

John Wood Group (LSE:WG.) tops this list of most-bought stocks in ISAs on the ii platform for only the second time. Its previous table-topping week occurred just after the shares plunged in November following third-quarter results and news that Deloitte was conducting an audit review.

Interest in Wood – down as much as 67% since the Valentine’s Day crash – is likely a mix of bargain hunters and existing shareholders buying more to average down their positions. The latest slump was a response to a disappointing fourth-quarter trading update in which Wood warned of negative free cash flow in 2025 of up to $200 million.

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Analysts at Morgan Stanley see “a wide range of potential scenarios from here, and think the market will continue assigning a high discount to the shares in light of the high level of uncertainty.”

They cut their price target from 85p to 35p and believe that a continued ability to refinance debt will be key over the coming quarters. On a conference call with analysts, Morgan Stanley reports management said it was taking a holistic approach to refinancing and did not clearly rule out issuing new equity to address that.

BAE Systems (LSE:BA.) is one of the most-bought stocks for the first time since Christmas and equals its highest-ever position in the table. The shares reached a multi-month high after Donald Trump’s pivot away from Europe, which will undoubtedly provide a boost for military spending and defence contractors.

Earlier this month, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reported an 11.7% jump in real terms European defence spending to $457 billion, the 10th consecutive year of growth. Investors expect BAE and others to benefit as Trump applies pressure on Europe to spend more on defence – as much as 5% of GDP compared with an often unmet current NATO guideline of 2%.

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Glencore (LSE:GLEN) and Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.) are both back in this list after a short break. The FTSE 100 companies were just outside the top 10 last week, but Glencore is back following a post-results slump of as much as 10%.

The miner and commodity trader’s lower profit was expected, but shareholder returns by way of dividends and buybacks missed estimates. Production forecasts for copper and zinc were also a little light. And the company also admitted it is considering moving its stock market listing away from London.

After a week’s break from this list, Palantir Technologies Inc Ordinary Shares - Class A (NASDAQ:PLTR) returns to the top 10. I reported a couple of weeks ago that the shares had rallied over 300% in since May last year, and fourth-quarter results had been well received. But news that the Trump administration wants an 8% reduction in the Pentagon budget hit Palantir hard.

The company is a big supplier of AI-driven software to the US military, so any spending cuts there could hurt. We also heard reports that Palantir CEO Alex Karp and President Stephen Cohen had set up a plan to sell millions of shares if certain conditions are met in the months ahead. Palantir stock slumped more than 20% from a high of $125.41 to $95.80 over a couple of sessions last week.

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And finally, AIM-listed Serica Energy (LSE:SQZ) enters this top 10 for the first time. It came close on a couple of occasions last summer, but didn’t quite make it. This time, it took an 11% slump in the share price to attract enough bargain hunters to lift Serica into 10th place.

Investors moved in after the UK North Sea-focused oil company suspended production from the Triton floating production system, known as an FPSO. It followed damage caused by Storm Éowyn, which means production won’t begin again until mid-to-late March.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT) reclaimed the top spot on our list of most-bought funds in ISAs last week, displacing income trust Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW), which fell to third place.

Scottish Mortgage, run by Baillie Gifford, is a global equities investment trust that aims to buy innovative companies across public and private markets. It holds firms such as SpaceX, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA).

The shares are on a tear, rising nearly 40% over the past 12 months, as optimism around the potential of artificial intelligence continues.

In second place was Royal London Short Term Money Market. The money market fund, which can be viewed as cash proxy due to its investments in overnight deposits and ultra-short term bonds, yields around 4.8%,

However, given that UK interest rates have now fallen to 4.5%, the yield on this strategy will also fall over the coming months. The Y units automatically reinvest any income generated, rather than paying it out.

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Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity, L&G Global Technology Index, Fidelity Index World and HSBC FTSE All-World Index all held on to their ranks from last week, while 3i Group, Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index and JPMorgan Global Growth & Income all dropped off the list.

Replacing them were Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity, Fidelity China Special Situations (LSE:FCSS) and Alliance Witan Ord (LSE:ALW). Chinese shares have shot up in value this year, which is drawing investors back to the often unloved market.

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