Most-bought investments: October 2021
2nd November 2021 15:10
by Jemma Jackson from interactive investor
We reveal the most-popular funds, trusts and shares on the interactive investor platform.
In October, ahead of the COP26 climate change summit, with the focus on cutting emissions and saving the planet, interactive investor found that demand for a commodities and natural resources fund surged.
TB Guinness Global Energy, which predominately invests in oil and gas, was October’s only newcomer and entered the top 10 most bought fund list in fifth place. It follows huge increases in the oil price.
But there was only a slight dip in popularity of Baillie Gifford Positive Change, slipping one position to third and remaining extremely popular.
Fundsmith Equity retains its position at the helm of the table ahead of Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity in second position. Three other Vanguard managed funds also make the cut: Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity (fourth), Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity (seventh) and Vanguard US Equity Index (ninth).
Baillie Gifford American, L&G Global Technology Index and Rathbone Global Opportunities once again rank among the top 10 bestsellers last month.
Investment trusts
Meanwhile, there have been several new additions to our list of the most-bought investment trusts among interactive investor customers in October.
Edinburgh Worldwide (LSE:EWI) re-entered the rankings, flying up to third place. The trust has been a regular member in the top 10, until it lost its place in August.
Other new entrants to the table were private equity-focused fund-of-fundsHarbourVest Global Private Equity (LSE:HVPE), shooting up to fourth position, Pacific Horizon (LSE:PHI) and Personal Assets (LSE:PNL) in ninth and 10th positions, respectively.
Scottish Mortgage (LSE:SMT)once again secured the number one spot, while City of London (LSE:CTY), Capital Gearing (LSE:CGT), Smithson Investment Trust (LSE:SSON), BlackRock World Mining (LSE:BRWM) and Monks (LSE:MNKS) once again retain places on the list.
Dzmitry Lipski, Head of Funds Research, interactive investor, says: “October saw the ascendency of a fund that predominately invests in the shares of companies engaged in the oil and gas sector, energy generation and transmission, with perhaps the recent pick-up in performance speaking more loudly than COP26, given the recent oil price boom we have seen to date.
“Yet Baillie Gifford Positive Change remains in the top three. A recent survey of interactive investor website visitors* suggests that investors remain split over green investing, with, just under two-fifths (39%) of respondents claiming they were more likely to invest in ‘green’ investments as a result of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report published last month. But as many of the sample said the opposite.
“The rise of Personal Assets into the top 10 investment trust bestsellers and the sustained popularity of Capital Gearing, which are both viewed as capital preservation strategies, suggests that some investors are becoming increasingly mindful of the spectre of inflation and risk.”
Commenting on the bestselling equities, Keith Bowman, Equity Analyst, interactive investor, says: “A hoped-for order from vehicle hire group Hertz for 100,000 Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model 3 saloons, took the electric car maker’s stock market value to over $1 trillion during the month.
“Rising costs flagged at results for both online clothing retailers Boohoo (LSE:BOO) and ASOS (LSE:ASC) weighed on their share prices respectively. Price falls of just over 15% during October helped generate investor interest.
“Both International Consolidated Airlines Group (LSE:IAG) and Rolls-Royce (LSE:RR.) stayed in investor sights as pandemic recovery hopes continued to rise and fall. Banking favourite Lloyds (LSE:LLOY) also remained of interest as it posted strength in depth third-quarter results over the month.”
Top 10 most-bought investments on interactive investor in October 2021
Rank | Fund | Investment trust | Equity |
1 | FUNDSMITH EQUITY | SCOTTISH MORTGAGE | BOOHOO GROUP PLC |
2 | VANGUARD LIFESTRATEGY 80% EQUITY | CITY OF LONDON | INTERNATIONAL CONSOLIDATED AIRLINES GROUP |
3 | BAILLIE GIFFORD POSITIVE CHANGE | EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE | THE HUT GROUP |
4 | VANGUARD LIFESTRATEGY 60% EQUITY | HARBOURVEST GLOBAL PRIVATE EQUITY | LLOYDS BANKING GROUP |
5 | TB GUINNESS GLOBAL ENERGY | CAPITAL GEARING | VODAFONE |
6 | BAILLIE GIFFORD AMERICAN | SMITHSON INVESTMENT TRUST | ROLLS ROYCE HOLDINGS |
7 | VANGUARD LIFESTRATEGY 100% EQUITY | BLACKROCK WORLD MINING | ASOS |
8 | L&G GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY INDEX | MONKS INVESTMENT TRUST | TESLA |
9 | VANGUARD US EQUITY INDEX | PACIFIC HORIZON | ARGO BLOCKCHAIN |
10 | RATHBONE GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES | PERSONAL ASSETS | ITM POWER |
Notes to editors
*Poll of 1,617 interactive investor website visitors between 17 and 23 August 2021.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.