10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 28 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.) is in the top 10 most-bought stocks in ISAs on the ii platform for the third week in a row, and top of the pile for a second time.

After plunging to a low of 21p following the recent warning of negative free cash flow in 2025, Wood last week confirmed it had received an approach from Sidara, the same company that walked away from a proposed takeover in August last year worth £1.6 billion, or 230p a share.

Wood advises shareholders to take no action and warns: “There can be no certainty either that an offer will be made nor as to the terms of any offer, if made”.

Following a fresh approach from the United Arab Emirates-based company, Wood shares raced to highs just above 40p, although investors seem reluctant to chase them any higher until there’s further news on bid talks. The stock traded at 65p prior to the latest slump and 124p in November.

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There were five new entries in what was a volatile week for global stock markets, among them three popular US tech stocks.

After a two-week break from this list, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) is back in at number four. Caught up in the broader market tech sell-off, fourth-quarter results exceeded expectations. However, the stock price response was modest at best, with investors now conditioned to expect significant increases in revenue, plus the inevitable beat versus Wall Street forecasts.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley “expect enthusiasm to come back over the course of the next six to nine months”, increasing its price target by $10 to $162 based on a calendar year 2026 price/earnings multiple of 32 times.

MicroStrategy, renamed Strategy Class A (NASDAQ:MSTR), had been a permanent fixture in this list since the end of October, but went missing at the end of January as the bitcoin boom started to fade.

Donald Trump’s election win and pro-crypto administration had triggered a wave of excitement among crypto investors, but things had gone a bit quiet. But Trump has just announced the five cryptocurrencies that he wants to include in a new strategic reserve - bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano. He says he will “make sure the US is the Crypto Capital of the World”.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) had a week off but is back in the top 10 as bargain hunters picked up stock for as little as $280, a near-four-month low. Investors had been spooked by a weaker-than-expected consumer sentiment survey.

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Back over here, and Ocado Group (LSE:OCDO) makes the top 10 for the first time since September when the shares had rallied strongly to over 400p. But the going has been tough since then, culminating in a 20% slump last week to below 230p when the high-tech grocer said it was cutting research & development (R&D) costs to around £165 million. Technology R&D capital expenditure is expected to be around 20% of recurring revenues in the 2027 financial year. The number of its modules deployed to customers this year is also guided to just five versus 10 before.

Annual losses narrowed from £394 million to £374.3 million, but the negative numbers are still significant, and Morgan Stanley analysts believe “Ocado has an unproven business model, which needs to be proven out”.

Rio Tinto Registered Shares (LSE:RIO) appears here for only the second time this year. The shares extended losses on Friday to finish with a decline of almost 6% for the week. That was driven principally by activist investor Palliser Capital, which said it is “deeply disappointed” by Rio’s decision not to follow BHP Group Ltd (LSE:BHP)’s example and move its primary stock market listing to Australia. Palliser reckons such as move would unlock $50 billion (£39.5 billion) in shareholder value.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

One of the most cautious investment areas – money market funds – are continuing to prove popular. Royal London Short Term Money Market tops the table this week, swapping places with Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT).

Money market funds are a “cash-like” investment that can be held inside an ISA, investment account or self-invested personal pension (SIPP). They are a diversified pool of ultra-safe bonds maturing soon and they also make use of banks for deposits.

Yields on money market funds are closely linked to the Bank of England base rate. Annualised yields on money market funds are generally just above the 4.5% base rate, so investors continue to pocket a return well ahead of the UK inflation rate of 3%. Royal London Short Term Money Market’s current yield is 4.7% (as of 31 January 2024). It costs just 0.1% a year.

Scottish Mortgage occupies the second spot. It has posted a strong 12 months of gains, with the shares rising 30.7%, as optimism over the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) spread through markets. Over three years, returns of 4.8% are the result of its investment style falling out of favour amid interest rate rises. The trust invests in global businesses, including up to 30% in private companies that are tapping into technological advancements.

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In third place is Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW). As the name suggests, it invests in UK wind farms, aiming to provide investors with a yearly dividend that increases in line with RPI inflation. It has successfully achieved this each year since the trust launched in 2013. It was announced last week that longstanding fund manager Stephen Lilley will step down from the investment trust in two months’ time. Lilley has been manager of the renewable infrastructure trust since it launched in 2013, alongside Laurence Fumagalli, who stepped down around a year ago.

Outside the top three, there are three new entrants this week: JPMorgan Global Growth & Income Ord (LSE:JGGI), Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index £ Acc and BlackRock World Mining Trust Ord (LSE:BRWM).

The first two offer investors global exposure, with JPMorgan Global Growth & Income holding 50 “best ideas stocks”, while Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index aims to provide the return of the global stock market.

BlackRock World Mining aims “to provide a diversified investment in mining and metal assets worldwide”. Copper and gold are favoured, accounting for around a quarter each.

The trio making way for the new entrants are HSBC FTSE-All-World Index, Fidelity China Special Situations and Alliance Witan.

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