10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 2 February 2024
In this new series of articles, we reveal the 10 most-popular shares, funds and investment trusts added to ISAs on the interactive investor platform during the past week.
5th February 2024 13:06
by Lee Wild from interactive investor
With ISA season under way and tax year-end fast approaching, 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
Company name | Place change | |
1 | Unchanged | |
2 | Up 1 | |
3 | Down 1 | |
4 | New | |
5 | New | |
6 | New | |
7 | New | |
8 | New | |
9 | New | |
10 | Down 2 |
Two weeks ago, it was all about US technology shares and peak results season. Last week it was about telecoms as both BT Group (LSE:BT.A) and Vodafone Group (LSE:VOD) debuted in this ISA season’s top 10 most-bought list.
Investors had to digest mixed third-quarter results. Both sales and earnings broadly matched City estimates, and new chief executive Allison Kirkby reconfirmed the company's full-year 2024 financial expectations.
However, Kirkby had to admit that customer broadband losses would likely exceed 400,000 this financial year. The figure for Openreach broadband line losses for the first nine months was 369,000, about 2% of the total.
BT shares had been up as much as 5% on results day before drifting back. They ended the week down over 6%. However, there are still plenty of supporters in the City, with Morgan Stanley repeating 220p price target.
Vodafone also features in the top 10 list for the first time. Investors bought in ahead of this week’s third-quarter results, published Monday. Like BT, Vodafone shares are trading near multi-year lows, and its cheap valuation and double-digit dividend yield continue to attract buyers. Any recovery will take time though, and the shares were little changed following the numbers.
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- Vodafone has plenty of work to do after mixed Q3
- The Week Ahead: Vodafone, BP, Barratt Developments, AstraZeneca, BAT
Superdry (LSE:SDRY) and ITM Power (LSE:ITM) also featured heavily last week, the former doubling in value on a possible takeover, and the latter up a third after interim results contained evidence that its turnaround plan was having an impact.
However, star of the show the past week has been Helium One Global (LSE:HE1), a helium explorer in Tanzania.
Last week, I reported how its share price had quickly tripled in value from 0.19p to 0.63p, after an update on drilling of the Itumbula West-1 well. The shares paused for breath but sprung to life again this morning.
Shares spiked to 3.7p as trading began Monday, and again an hour later after the company announced completion of the well which saw helium flow to surface. That takes the share price gain since that 0.19p low to over 1,800%, making Helium One a 19-bagger in less than a fortnight!
"We are delighted with the findings from Itumbula West-1 and the results from the down hole well testing have clearly confirmed the presence of a producing helium province in the Rukwa Rift Basin,” said chief executive Lorna Blaisse, who called the drilling campaign “a huge success”.
“Flowing helium to surface in such high concentrations is a huge milestone for the company and we will now fully evaluate these results and focus on advancing this project in the most effective way possible; one that will aim to achieve commerciality at the earliest opportunity.”
Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs
Fund name | Place change | |
1 | Unchanged | |
2 | Up 4 | |
3 | Unchanged | |
4 | Down 2 | |
5 | Up 5 | |
6 | New | |
7 | Up 2 | |
8 | New | |
9 | Down 5 | |
10 | Down 3 |
Technology continues to be a key area among our ISA customers, with L&G Global Technology Index Trust unchanged in pole position. The passive fund holds five of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks in its top 10 positions, with the two exceptions being Amazon and Tesla.
Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT), the most-popular investment trust among our customers in January, also provides exposure to the AI theme. The innovation-focused portfolio recently bought back shares in Meta Platforms Inc Class A (NASDAQ:META) (formerly known as Facebook), and also owns NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA). It is unchanged in third place.
In the middle of those two, in third place, is Fundsmith Equity. The fund, managed by star investor Terry Smith, holds a couple of US tech giants – Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Meta – but sold its stake in Amazon. Smith recently said he is sceptical that investors will be able to pick winners from breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI). Writing in his January 2024 annual letter to investors, Smith said that early winners from technology breakthroughs often do not go on to be longer-term market leaders, citing the example of Yahoo in search engines and BlackBerry in smartphones.
- Top 10 most-popular investment funds: January 2024
- Top 10 most-popular investment trusts: January 2024
Also of note are the two new entries this week: Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW) and Alliance Trust Ord (LSE:ATST). Greencoat UK Wind, as the name suggests, invests in UK wind assets. It has a stellar dividend track record, having grown its dividend ahead of RPI inflation each year over the past decade. It offers a dividend yield of 6.9% and recently increased its target dividend for 2024 to 10p per share, above the Retail Prices Index for December 2023. Meanwhile, Alliance Trust invests globally and adopts a multi-manager approach.
The duo exiting the ISA top 10 are Allianz Technology and Edinburgh Worldwide.
Funds and trusts section written by ii’s collectives editor Kyle Caldwell.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.
Please remember, investment value can go up or down and you could get back less than you invest. If you’re in any doubt about the suitability of a stocks & shares ISA, you should seek independent financial advice. The tax treatment of this product depends on your individual circumstances and may change in future. If you are uncertain about the tax treatment of the product you should contact HMRC or seek independent tax advice.