10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 27 September 2024

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

Investors were all over cheap oil stocks last week, particularly BP (LSE:BP.) where buying volumes in ISAs on the interactive investor platform were three times that of FTSE 100 peer Shell (LSE:SHEL). That means BP is back at first place in the table.

And it’s all about the oil price. Despite tensions in the Middle East and potential threats to supply there, the black gold has lurched lower, triggered by reports that Saudi Arabia is preparing to abandon its unofficial price target of $100 a barrel.

The world’s largest oil producer can impact the oil price by exporting less crude, which drives the price up. But prices have been falling anyway amid concerns about the global economy. Increasing supplies will keep the price of a barrel lower, but means Saudi will sell more oil.

As we’ve reported previously, BP shares now trade at multi-year lows, which continues to attract bargain hunters.

And Shell is new in the top 10. In fact, incredibly, it’s the oil major’s first ever appearance in our list of 10 most-bought ISA stocks. Renewed interest comes as its share price fell around 5% last week in response to the Saudi news, down to its lowest since January and bringing losses in the past six weeks to 15%.

• BP and Shell shares fall sharply amid oil industry speculation
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• BP share price drop attracts bargain hunters

And there are three other FTSE 100 companies either making a maiden appearance here or returning after a short break.

It’s British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS)’s first time in the top 10. There’s no obvious news that’s generated interest in the stock. BATS shares had staged a great recovery since the spring, recently hitting an 18-month high. They’re down 9% since as attention turns to a capital markets day on 16 October.

AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN), the UK’s biggest company, has generated plenty of buying interest this month as its share price reversed from a record high. Investors are still disappointed about a recent update on late-stage trial results for its Dato-DXd lung cancer drug. 

Arch rival GSK (LSE:GSK) props up the top 10, making its first appearance here since July. The shares have had a difficult few weeks but appear to have stabilised at levels just above their lowest of 2024 so far.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW) flew up the table last week, rising from sixth to first place in the most-bought collectives list. The investment trust aims to provide investors with a yearly dividend that increases in line with RPI inflation. This has successfully been achieved each year since the trust launched in 2013 and its dividend yield stands at 7.2%.

Investors buying today are seeking to take advantage of its sizeable discount, currently -12.6%. Trading on a discount is in common with many peers in its sector. This area of the market fell out of favour amid rising interest rates, which caused bond yields to move higher. As a result, income seekers have more options and can take less risk, as the safest types of bonds - UK and US government bonds - offer yields of about 4% compared to virtually nothing when rates were at rock-bottom levels. 

But as interest rates now start to fall, with fund manager abrdn expecting interest rates in the UK and US to settle between 2% and 3% by the end of 2026, the tide could start to turn for this sector as the gap between its yields and what investors can earn on cash becomes bigger.

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Elsewhere, there were three new entrants in the top 10 table – 3i Group Ord (LSE:III), Alliance Trust Ord (LSE:ATST), and HSBC FTSE All-World Index.

The former has been a standout in the private equity sector over the past five years, with its successful stake in discount retailer Action being the key performance driver. However, 3i Group is trading on a huge premium of 55.4%. Over the long term, such huge premiums tend not to be sustainable.

Alliance Trust, the global multi-manager strategy, is set to join forces with Witan Ord (LSE:WTAN) next month, which will lead to a name change of Alliance Witan. The merger is expected to mean Alliance Witan will be of sufficient size to enter the FTSE 100 index.

Lastly, HSBC FTSE All-World Index aims to broadly replicate for investors the global stock market return. It invests in more than 3,500 global stocks, with some exposure to emerging markets, whereas some global index funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) stick only to developed markets. Its yearly ongoing charges figure is 0.12%.

Slipping out of the top 10 are Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity, BlackRock World Mining and JPMorgan Global Growth & Income.

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