Most-bought investment: March 2025

interactive investor (ii), the UK’s second-largest platform for private investors, reveals its most-bought equities, funds, and investment trusts in March 2025. 

ISA season reached its peak in March, with investors looking to maximise their tax-free allowances. However, we still saw plenty of market volatility during this period.

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As Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, explains:“Bargain hunting and riding momentum waves were two central themes for interactive investor customers in March, as US equity markets dropped, and countries turned to inward-looking strategies in the face of rising geopolitical tensions.”

Nvidia and Tesla retain their number two and number three spots, respectively, in the top 10 most-bought stocks’ list, despite a difficult month for the so-called Magnificent Seven. But we also saw Amazon join the top 10 in March.

With investment trusts, however, investors largely focused on familiar strategies, but they were drawn to an investment trust that has never appeared in the top 10 – JP Morgan European Growth & Income.

Below, interactive investor’s experts explore March 2025’s most-bought data in more depth.

Stocks (equities)

Commenting on the most-bought stocks on interactive investor in March, Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, says:“The Nasdaq ended March and therefore the quarter down by 10.4% in the year to date, and more than 14% down from its record high last December. At the eye of the storm has been the Magnificent Seven, previously drivers of exceptional market performance over the last couple of years. So far this year, previous AI market darling Nvidia, for example, has lost 22% and is almost 30% lower than its record high. In addition, Tesla has declined by 32% this year and Amazon by 14%, bringing the latter on to the top ten most bought list for the first time in many months, joining Nvidia and Tesla which have been stalwarts for some time now.

“Military tensions have resulted in a large actual or proposed bout of increased defence spending, and interactive investor investors appear to have been riding this wave. BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce remain on the list, having now risen by 35% and 26% respectively in the year to date. Indeed, Rolls-Royce has seen an additional boost having implemented a turnaround plan which firmly placed it in investors’ good books. These shares have risen by 84% over the last year, with little sign of the positive momentum fading.

“Elsewhere, the usual attraction of high-yielding blue-chip stocks was also in evidence, leaving Legal & General comfortably in the top ten given its dividend yield of 8.8%. Taylor Wimpey also made an appearance, with the shares yielding 8.75% even after a cut in December, while also offering the possibility of a turnaround should the housing sector continue to improve as is widely hoped.”

Funds and investment trusts

Commenting on the most-bought investment trusts, Kyle Caldwell, Funds and Investment Education Editor at interactive investor, says:“In the last month before tax year end, investors largely stuck to familiar strategies, with just two new entries for March in our top 10 table of the most-bought investment trusts.

“One of those new entries, City of London, is no stranger to the top 10. It is managed by veteran fund manager Job Curtis, and this ‘Steady Eddie’ investment trust is a reliable dividend payer, having increased payouts each year since 1966. Curtis mainly sticks to FTSE 100 companies that demonstrate good prospects for growing their profits and dividends.

“City of London consistently appears in our top 10, but dropped out in February. 

“In contrast, the other new entry, JPMorgan European Growth & Income, has never appeared in the top 10 since we started compiling the rankings in 2018. Its entry, in eighth place, comes as European shares enjoy a moment in the sun. Various European stock markets have made a strong start to 2025, with low starting valuations attracting those looking to switch some of their investments out of the US market.”

Commenting on the most-bought funds on interactive investor in March,Alex Watts, Senior Investment Data analyst, interactive investor, says: “The most-bought active fund by a margin continues to be the Royal London Short Term Money Market fund, while Fidelity Cash and L&G Cash also prove popular.

“Short-term bond yields in the UK remained relatively elevated throughout most of March and the Bank of England refrained from lowering base rates. Money market funds have continued to offer attractive income above UK CPI (consumer price index) as well as offering some shelter from global equity market volatility brought by the US administration’s tariff implementation, as well as other global political tensions."

Watts continues: “In terms of regional allocations, investors have continued to buy into the US amid the aforementioned weakness in the American equity market, but doing so via passive options, such as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, and gaining exposure to the tech-heavy Nasdaq via the Invesco EQQQ Nasdaq 100 option."

“However, the US is notable in its absence from the most-bought active funds. Instead, investors have shown interest in other developed markets, both Europe and UK via Artemis’ offerings, as well as Jupiter India as the Indian market picked up following a short-period of weakness for the emerging country particularly throughout February 2025.

“Lastly, the attraction of precious metals continues, with investors allocating both via the passive iShares Physical Gold ETC, as well as Jupiter’s actively managed Gold & Silver fund, which invests predominantly in the equities of gold/silver-exposed companies, as well as holding a little under one-fifth of the fund in bullion. Amid elevated geopolitical uncertainty and significant buying by central banks and investors alike, gold has been one of the top-performing asset classes over the past year (and beyond) and the momentum in the precious metal’s price has not abated so far in 2025.”

The most-bought investments on interactive investor in March 2025 (real time)