10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 19 July 2024

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

NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock fell last week as part of the ongoing rotation out of US technology stocks into small-cap shares. The belief is that weaker inflation means an imminent cut in interest rates, which gives sensitive smaller businesses a boost. They could also be beneficiaries of Donald Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and deregulation should he win the presidential election in November. An anticipated uplift in profit growth also makes them a viable alternative to overvalued tech.

Having briefly traded above $140 a month ago, Nvidia shares have dropped back to what appears to be support at the $117 level. That’s enticing enough investors who believe in the long-term growth story to make Nvidia the most-bought stock in ISAs on the ii platform over the past week.

There are five new entries this time. Most notable is Burberry Group (LSE:BRBY), after the luxury fashion firm issued another profits warning and swapped out its chief executive. Shares slumped to below 700p for the first time in over 14 years, attracting bargain hunters.

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After the mining sector fell 7% last week, investors saw an opportunity to add cheap assets to their ISA portfolios, pulling Rio Tinto Registered Shares (LSE:RIO) and Glencore (LSE:GLEN) back into the top 10. It’s the first time Glencore’s been in this list since the start of May; for Rio it’s early April.

In a production update, Rio reported lower-than-expected iron ore shipments following a derailment in mid-May which lost six days of rail capacity. It also cut full-year alumina production expectations due to gas pipeline disruption in Queensland and warned that copper output will be near the bottom end of its forecast range.

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Among small-caps, £20 million molecular diagnostics company Genedrive (LSE:GDR) is back in the top 10 after a two-week absence. I first mentioned the stock here at the start of this month, days after it gave an update on its CYP2C19 genotyping; a test that helps determine responsiveness to the drug clopidogrel, which helps prevent blood clots if you are at greater risk of having them.

Now, the company has received designation from the US Food and Drug Administration for its MT-RNR1 point of care test, sending its share price up as much as 185% from levels a week earlier to a three-month high. 

Genedrive says its kit is “the world's first rapid point-of-care test to screen infants in an urgent care setting for a genetic variant that can cause life-long hearing loss when carriers of the variant are given certain antibiotics”.

An even smaller company attracted attention last week when PennPetro Energy (LSE:PPP), an oil company focused on production in the Gonzales oil field in Texas, signed “a very significant and transformative deal” with Madeira-based energy trading business Globalvision International. They will buy all the shares in Pennpetro's subsidiary Texas Nobel USA Inc in exchange for a life of asset currently estimated at around 30 years oil sales revenues on some Texan oil wells.

“Given the current estimated life of the wells at 20 years-plus, it secures [the company’s] future for many years to come,” said Pennpetro’s chief executive Tom Evans. “Shareholders should not underestimate the material value of receiving a [overriding royalty interest] on oil production from these wells. There is a lot of oil in these 2,036 acres. We are hopeful to see oil production starting within months."

Having closed at 0.55p last Tuesday, Pennpetro shares traded as high as 3.18p during the following day’s trading session, peaking at 3.9p a day later for a two-day gain of over 600%. Even so, the company is still valued at only £3.2 million. It listed on the stock exchange at the end of 2017 at 25p before finishing the day at 52.6p. Three years ago, the shares briefly changed hands for more than 60p.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

This week, there are three new entries in our top 10 most-bought table that comprises both funds and investment trusts.

Entering in fourth place is Gore Street Energy Storage Fund Ord (LSE:GSF), an investment trust. In the week ended 18 July, the renewable energy trust saw its discount increase by nearly seven percentage points to -42.1%. This was on the back of a cut to its dividend target this week, which also knocked the share price.

The annual dividend for its next financial year (which ends on 31 March 2025) has been reduced from 7.5p to 7p per share. However, some investors are looking to take advantage of the wide discount. Moreover, while its current dividend yield of 12.3% will likely fall when income is cut, it will still be very high.

The other two new entrants are passive funds that invest globally. HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc tracks the up and down fortunes of 3,520 companies. Its top three holdings, which account for just over 12% of assets, are Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA).

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Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity also re-enters the top 10. Vanguard’s LifeStrategy fund range, which invests in other Vanguard passive products, are popular “core” fund choices for portfolios due to their low cost and diversification benefits. The top three positions, which are all around 20% weightings are: Vanguard US Equity Index £ Acc fund, Vanguard FTSE UK All Share Index Unit Trust and Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index fund.

There’s no place this week for Alliance Trust, Fundsmith Equity and Fidelity Index World.

For the sixth consecutive week, L&G Global Technology Index I Acc retains the top spot. It has been a stellar performer over short and long time periods, almost tripling investor money over five years, returning 182.3%. However, it has become very concentrated, with around 15% each in Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia.

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