Most-bought investments: December 2024
US stocks remain firmly in demand for UK investors, and a money market fund takes the top spot.
2nd January 2025 14:34
- US companies continue to be in demand for UK investors – with MicroStrategy, Tesla and Nvidia topping the list for the most-bought stocks
- Royal London Short Term Money Market tops the list for most-bought funds, dethroning Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity
- Scottish Mortgage is the frontrunner of ii’s most-bought investment trusts once again, after dropping to second place in November.
interactive investor, the UK’s second-largest platform for private investors, reveals its most-bought equities, funds and investment trusts in December 2024.
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While passive funds continue to be popular with ii investors, taking nine of the top 10 most-bought funds in December, one active fund topped the list – the Royal London Short Term Money Market Y Acc fund. The money market fund dethroned the popular choice of Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity, which dropped to second place.
The funds' list also saw a new entry to the list in December, UBS S&P 500 Index. Notably, Fundsmith Equity has not appeared in the list for the third month in row.
US companies continued to shine in December, with MicroStrategy Inc Class A (NASDAQ:MSTR), NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA)and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) taking the top three spots for most-bought stocks once again.
New entrants to the top stocks list included Palantir Technologies Inc Ordinary Shares - Class A (NASDAQ:PLTR), International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD).
Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT) has become the frontrunner of ii’s most-bought investment trusts once again, after dropping to second place in November.
Below, interactive investor’s experts explore December 2024’s most-bought data in more depth.
Funds
Commenting on the most-bought funds on ii in December, Sam Benstead, Fixed Income Lead at interactive investor, says: “Interestingly, the two most-popular funds last month offer almost opposite investment propositions.
“Top-ranked Royal London Short Term Money Market gives investors a 'cash-like' return, which closely follows the Bank of England base rate. Money market funds are one of the most conservative options that investors have to choose from, but with a yield of 4.8%, returns are comfortably ahead of inflation, which helps explain its popularity.
“In contrast, second-ranked Legal & General Global Technology index is a full-on growth fund, which has delivered stellar returns but with plenty of volatility. The £3.6 billion fund is not for the faint-hearted, with around 15% invested in each of Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft, but this concentration in US tech stocks has made it one of the best-performing funds of the last decade, returning an astonishing 655%.
“Another thing that caught my eye this month is that Fundsmith Equity remained outside the top-10 funds for the third month in a row, having last featured in 10th place in September. Terry Smith’s giant £22.5 billion global fund now ranks behind global stock market tracker funds over one, three and five years, but is ahead still over the past decade.
“Poor recent returns are no doubt causing investors to reconsider their faith in the star fund manager, although if tech shares falter, his strategy is likely to outperform again as he has just 12.6% invested in the Information Technology sector.”
Investment trusts
Commenting on the most-bought investment trusts on ii in December, Alex Watts, Fund Analyst at interactive investor, says: “December marks the end of a mixed year for investment companies, during which the issue of share price discounts to net asset values (NAVs) did not dissipate, merger activity was rife and high-profile activist investors made their appearance on a number of share registers.
“Given strong performance of global equities through 2024, it’s no surprise that in December investors maintained their vigour for global trusts, continuing to buy two large multi-manager options: F&C Investment Trust and the newly merged Alliance Witan, in addition to the strongly performing JPM Global Growth and Income and growth-focused Scottish Mortgage.
“Investors also sought specific sector exposures. The tech sector delivered fantastic returns for a second year running in 2024, despite some shakiness in the last week of the year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in December Polar Capital Technology, managed by Ben Rogoff, which invests in tech companies globally was still popular with those seeking actively managed exposure here. It’s interesting to see BlackRock World Mining Trust, which invests globally in the assets of mining and metals companies – a sector that has been less favoured by the market in the later part of the year.
“It’s not just conventional equity trusts that were popular though. Investors showed continued enthusiasm for some alternative exposures within the renewable energy infrastructure sector, NextEnergy Solar and Greencoat UK Wind as well as the infrastructure giant that is 3i.
“While UK equities have been out of favour of recent, the £2.2 billion City of London trust remains a popular option. The trust is managed by Job Curtis and offers a yield of just shy of 5% by investing mainly in UK-listed companies, with a record of increasing its dividend for more consecutive years than any other UK trust.”
Equities
Commenting on the most-bought stocks on ii in December, Keith Bowman, Equity Analyst at interactive investor, says: “US companies remained firmly in demand by UK investors during December, buoyed by their continued longer-term outperformance of UK companies and markets.
“Bitcoin exposed MicroStrategy stayed in favour as investors once again sought exposure to the cryptocurrency. Hopes for Tesla, given Elon Musk’s close relationship with president-elect Trump, stayed high, while the AI theme and chipmaker Nvidia’s considered exposure left it further in demand.
“Palantir Technologies made a new entry. Shares for the software provider, which looks to improve the efficiency of customer data, remained something of a momentum play, climbing over 300% during 2024.
“British Airways owner IAG also made a new entry. Self-help measures and exposure to the US economy helped its shares soar over 90% during 2024, with investors appearing to remain optimistic for 2025 prospects.
“Dividend play Legal & General remained favoured during the month, while US company Advanced Micro Devices also made a new entity, potentially buoyed by reports that ARK Invest’s Cathie Woods had added to her position in the chipmaker.”
MOST-BOUGHT INVESTMENTS ON INTERACTIVE INVESTOR (ii) IN DECEMBER 2024
Fund | Investment trust | Equity | |
1 | |||
2 | |||
3 | |||
4 | Palantir Technologies Inc Ordinary Shares - Class A (NASDAQ:PLTR) | ||
5 | |||
6 | BlackRock World Mining Trust Ord (LSE:BRWM)(joint sixth place) | ||
6 | City of London Ord (LSE:CTY)(joint sixth place) | ||
8 | |||
9 | |||
10 |
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