10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 13 March 2026

We look at the investments ii customers have been buying within their ISAs during the previous week. The data includes only real-time trades, not regular investing instructions, and combines the use of both existing funds and new money.

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Top 10 shares in ISAs

It’s the first time the top two in this list of most-bought stocks in ISAs on the ii platform has been unchanged since April 2025.

Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN) was by far the most popular stock last week as shares in the insurer fell over 3% to prices not seen since late November. A dividend yield fast approaching 9% proved too tempting for many, with buying volume greater than that at second-place Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.) by a ratio of 3:1.  

Focus was on annual results published midweek, which contained a mix of positives and negatives, including a miss on core operating profit and capital generation. Analysts at Deutsche Bank kept their 270p price target, JP Morgan raised its target to 285p, while Morgan Stanley stuck at 250p.

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Rival Aviva (LSE:AV.) is a climber, up three places amid bargain hunting. Shares managed gains last week but still trade significantly below their 700p peak. However, Deutsche Bank repeated its buy rating and raised its price target by 5p to 765p.

It said: “Aviva is attractively valued at c10x 2027e [price/earnings], which is a discount to the European Composite and UK Life names, as well as offering a 6.5% 2026e dividend yield with its annual share buyback adding a further 1.8%.”

Struggling airlines remain a popular recovery play, with investors picking up stock in International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG) at an eight-month low and in easyJet (LSE:EZJ) at prices not seen since October 2023. Shareholders will be hoping for an end to flight disruption in the Middle East and a more stable oil price once the fighting stops.

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Unusually, there’s just one new entry this week. Diageo (LSE:DGE) shares resumed their plunge, reaching a 14-year low, although there was a bounce just ahead of the weekend. Fear is that costs will increase if the Iran war continues much longer, while consumers will be less inclined to buy Diageo’s more expensive brand drinks and spirits. Clearly, investors believe the selling is overdone.

Given there’s just a single new stock in this week’s table, only one drops out of the top 10. This week it’s housebuilder Vistry.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

There’s just one new entrant in the top 10 funds list this week, with renewable energy trust NextEnergy Solar Ord (LSE:NESF) in at number eight. The trust saw its share price tumble last week (falling around 16%) after it announced a dividend cut but, rather than be put off, some investors saw this as an opportunity. As we highlighted in our weekly Discount Delver column, the discount widened by over seven percentage points to -44% from 5 March to 12 March.

Investors have worried for quite some time about the sustainability of dividends in the sector, given the sky-high yields on offer. NESF gave credence to such fears in unveiling a “strategic reset” that will see it focus on total returns rather than just income, and move from a progressive dividend policy to a percentage-based approach, looking to pay out 75% of operating free cash flow. 

This should free up around £40 million over a five-year period, allowing the trust to reduce its hefty debt pile. The trust will also seek to sell more assets, target renewed net asset value (NAV) growth from existing assets and increase its exposure to energy storage. 

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There is little movement for the rest of the top 10, with five funds sitting in the same positions as a week ago. Remaining in pole position is Royal London Short Term Money Market fund. With UK interest rates expected to remain at 3.75% this week, this fund and others in the sector are still offering inflation-beating income. Money market funds are designed to be low-risk products that behave in a cash-like manner, with yields typically close to the level of UK interest rates. Investors often use them to park cash balances for a short period while deciding where to invest, or as a “shelter” during periods of stock market volatility.

One trend continuing to play out is an investor preference for going global as opposed to seeking out dedicated regional strategies. Six of the top 10 invest globally, with Artemis Global Income I Acc and Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT) the two active funds.

The others - Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index £ Acc, HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc, Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity A Acc and Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity A Acc - provide passive exposure to the returns of the global stock market, with the latter having some bond exposure.

Departing the top 10 this week is commodity trust BlackRock World Mining.

Funds and trusts section written by Kyle Caldwell, funds and investment education editor at ii.