Lloyds Banking Group PLC, BP PLC, Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC and AMC Entertainment Holdings were among the most popular shares for UK private investors to buy in the past month, according to data from three top investment and trading platforms.
Some of the names seem to have retained their appeal for retail investors from our survey of the first half of the year, while others have emerged in the past quarter.
Among investment trusts and funds, tech-tilted Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC stands undefeated in terms of private investor popularity.
Most bought shares on AJ Bell in September
- Lloyds Banking Group
- BP
- Royal Dutch Shell
- Legal & General
- Rio Tinto
- Unilever
- IAG
- Barclays
- Rolls Royce Holdings
- EasyJet
Most bought shares on Interactive Investor in September
- Eurasia Mining
- Rolls Royce Hldgs
- IAG
- Easyjet
- Lloyds Banking Group
- Argo Blockchain
- Rio Tinto
- ITM Power
- Glencore
- Darktrace
Top 10 buys on Freetrade for the month
- AMC Entertainment
- Aterian
- Tesla
- Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF Dist. (VUSA)
- Apple
- Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF Acc. (VUAG)
- GameStop
- Alphabet
- FTSE All-World UCITS ETF Dist. (VWRL)
- Lucid Group
Lloyds Banking Group PLC, Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC, International Consolidated Airlines Group, EasyJet and Rio Tinto have been universally popular among retail investors in the past month.
On Interactive Investor AIM companies are notably more prominent, with Russia-focused Eurasia Mining PLC top of the list, Argo Blockchain PLC and ITM Power PLC also on the leaderboard. Cyber security-artificial intelligence crossover Darktrace PLC, a newcomer on the markets this year, was also popular.
AI has also been popular with UK investors at commission-free broker Freetrade, with AI-powered e-commerce services provider Aterian the second most popular purchase for investors’ ISAs.
US stocks are generally much more popular on Freetrade, with memestock name AMC Entertainment top of the list and GameStop Corp still attracting new investors, as well as shares that have appeal outside YOLO traders, including electric vehicle rivals Tesla Inc and Lucid Group Inc and Nasdaq titans Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc.
Across the whole of the third quarter, data from AJ Bell shows Lloyds and BP were the most popular pair, followed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, IAG, Rolls and Vodafone, while Unilever PLC and Shell were in ninth and 10th place for the quarter.
“Share investors have largely focused on cyclical areas of the market, which also offer attractive dividends too,” said Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell.
“Dividend yield is often a key consideration for DIY investors, some of whom will be drawing an income from their SIPPs and ISAs. Unilever also proved popular despite a year in which the stock market more broadly has turned against its former darling. DIY investors have clearly seen the sell off as an opportunity to buy into what they see as a robust growth business at a reasonable price.”
Most bought investment trusts on Interactive Investor in September
- Scottish Mortgage
- Smithson
- City Of London
- European Assets
- Blackrock World Mining
- Blackrock Throgmorton
- Capital Gearing
- Finsbury Growth & Income Tst
- Fidelity China Special Situations
- Monks Inv Trust
Most bought investment trusts on AJ Bell in September
- Scottish Mortgage
- City Of London
- Monks Inv Trust
- Blackrock World Mining
- Smithson
- Scottish Inv Trust
- Blackrock Throgmorton
- Fidelity China Special Sits
- Witan
- Bankers
During September, Scottish Mortgage remained the most popular on AJ Bell, but City Of London, Monks Investment Trust and Blackrock World Mining Trust all climbed up the table to third, fourth and fifth, while Witan Investment Trust and Bankers Investment Trust both made it onto the table.
Says Khalaf: “The behemoths Fundsmith Equity and Scottish Mortgage still sit atop the table, despite recently not delivering the blockbuster outperformance investors have become accustomed to. Passive funds and ETFs also feature heavily in the most purchased funds of the summer, perhaps reflecting an uncertain outlook which requires high levels of diversification. Two sustainable funds make it into the top ten, and at an industry level, there are still large ongoing inflows into ESG funds. With COP 26 about to kick off in Glasgow, it looks likely to be another record-breaking year for ethical fund sales.”
Top funds on Interactive Investor in September
- Fundsmith Equity
- Baillie Gifford Positive Change
- Vanguard Lifestrategy 80% Equity
- Vanguard Lifestrategy 60% Equity
- L&G Global Technology Index Trust
- Baillie Gifford American
- Vanguard Lifestrategy 100% Equity
- Rathbone Global Opportunities
- Vanguard Us Equity Index
- FSSA Japan Focus Fund
Top funds and ETFs on AJ Bell in September
- Fundsmith Equity
- Baillie Gifford Positive Change
- Fidelity Index World
- Vanguard LifeStrategy
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Liontrust Sustainable Future Global Growth
- Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap
- iShares Core FTSE 100 ETF
- Fidelity Global Special Situations
- Baillie Gifford American
Fundsmith Equity was the top-selling fund on AJ Bell for the whole quarter, followed by Fidelity Index World, the iShares FTSE 100 ETF, Vanguard LifeStrategy (where the company have combined all purchases of the various equity-bond mixes of the range), Baillie Gifford Positive Change, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, Baillie Gifford American, Liontrust Sustainable Future Global Growth
Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap
Fidelity Global Special Situations
