- Fundsmith Equity leads way in July
- Actively managed funds remain popular
- Special situations and technology among favourite thematics
Terry Smith’s Fundsmith Equity (B41YBW7) remained the most bought fund by investors through July, according to data from investment platform AJ Bell, but there has also been high demand for special situations and index funds too.
Leading global stock indexes have been on a growth spurt through the summer so far, and investors have been taking advantage. The UK’s FTSE 100 has added around 2.1% through July, while the Eurostoxx 50 has risen 1.9%, but it is US markets that have enjoyed the strong runs, unsurprisingly considering how leading US tech names have powered returns.
The S&P 500 is up about 3% in July, while the Nasdaq Composite extended 3.8%.
Eager to participate in a widespread rally, low-cost global equity tracker funds have been popular, led by the Fidelity Index World (BJS8SJ3) fund in second spot, with all world trackers from Vanguard and HSBC in third and fourth respectively.
The tech run has also drawn specific investor interest through the L&G Global Technology Index (B0CNH16) fund.
But investors are still keen on actively managed choices, as shown by Fundsmith Equity’s continued popularity in July. Piggy-backing the expertise of managers at Jupiter, Fidelity and Rathbone was also on trend.
In compiling the table, Shares stripped out the lifestyle investment funds of Vanguard and AJ Bell’s in-house funds, although they remain very popular with investors, with the VT AJ Bell Adventurous (BYW8VG2) most bought overall.
DISCLAIMER: Financial services company AJ Bell referenced in this article owns Shares magazine. The author of this article (Steven Frazer) and the editor (James Crux) own shares in AJ Bell, Steven Frazer also owns shares in Fundsmith Equity.
