Top 10 most-purchased ETFs in August 2024

Investors ramped up their gold purchases in August, lifting the iShares Physical Gold ETC up four places to fifth on our monthly most-bought exchange-trade fund (ETF) list.

This ETF, from BlackRock costs just 0.12% a year and gives investors a way of holding gold in their portfolio without having to buy the precious metal themselves. It has risen 22% so far this year, as the gold price has jumped from $2,067 (£1,573) to $2,499 (£1,902), a 21% gain.

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The gold price is being boosted by expectations for lower interest rates. Because gold pays no income, when rates fall (sending bond yields lower), gold becomes relatively more attractive versus other safe-haven assets, such as government bonds.

Unchanged for another month at the top of the most-bought ETF list were Vanguard’s S&P 500 tracker funds, with the distribution version claiming the top spot and the accumulation version in second place. They cost 0.07% a year to track the largest shares in America, and pay out or reinvest any dividend income.

In third place, up one position, was Invesco Nasdaq 100 Ucits ETF. This ETF owns the largest shares on the Nasdaq index, which is dominated by tech shares such as Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia.

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The tracker sold off at the end of July and beginning of August, as investors worried about an economic slowdown in America, but has recovered in value although it is still about 7% below its all-time high, reached in early July.

But not all technology-focused trusts rose in popularity: iShares S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Ucits ETF dropped three places to ninth and VanEck Semiconductor Ucits ETF dropped two places to 10th.

These ETFs offer more concentrated bets on the tech sector by singling out just tech shares within the S&P 500 and screening the globe for semiconductor stocks.

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For example, the iShares ETF has 22.6% in Apple, 18.7% in Nvidia and 18.2% in Microsoft. The VanEck tracker has 11.5% in Broadcom, 10% in TSMC and 10% in Nvidia.

Three global ETFs remained popular in August: iShares Core MSCI World Ucits ETF (in fourth place), Vanguard FTSE All World Ucits ETF (dis) in seventh place and Vanguard FTSE All World Ucits ETF (acc) in eighth place.

The iShares fund owns just shares from developed markets, such as Europe, America and Japan, while the Vanguard All World ETFs also include emerging markets, like China and India.

iShares Core FTSE 100 Ucits ETF is the final ETF on the list, ranking sixth in popularity.

Top 10 most-popular ETFs in August 2024 

Source: interactive investor/FE FundInfo, 2 September 2024.