10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 2 May 2025

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

BP (LSE:BP.) jumps two places in this list of most-bought stocks in ISAs on the ii platform, taking the top spot for the first time in six months. It’s now made the top 10 five weeks in a row as investors exploit a share price tracking the price of oil down to multi-year lows.

Glencore (LSE:GLEN) is the week’s biggest riser, up seven places to second position. Its share price is also around prices not seen since 2021 after almost halving in value over the past year. Investors have also continued to back Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.), which is fast approaching 800p again, rewarding those who bought stock below 600p during the tariff crash a month ago.

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Half the top 10 are newbies, three of which are high street banks. All the lenders underperformed FTSE 100 index gains last week, but Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) suffered most. Its share price had a third attempt at breaking above 75p for the first time since 2015, but fell short again following mixed first-quarter results and concerns about the effect of US tariffs on bad debts. There were some issues at HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA), too, but investors remained happy to lock in an attractive dividend yield. NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) ended the week as the best-performing bank share after Q1 results out Friday revealed profits way ahead of expectations.

Marks & Spencer Group (LSE:MKS) makes only its second appearance in this top 10 after debuting in January. Its shares slumped a further 6% from Wednesday’s peak to Friday’s low following the recent cyber-attack that disrupted the retailer’s ability to take online orders for clothing and homewares.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank see “no long-lasting damage to the brand” but acknowledge there are “many unknowns”. They put the operating profit (EBIT) hit so far at about £30 million and estimate the run rate at about £15 million per week as the food supply chain reacts. Insurance should cover most of the £30 million, but extra costs are expected. Deutsche believes this implies a 3.5% hit to profit plus around 2% per week.

It says: “Despite this one-off incident, M&S is firmly on the right track, in our view, and we see the shares bouncing when the incident is resolved.”

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At number seven is Entain (LSE:ENT), the Ladbrokes, Foxy Bingo and PartyPoker owner whose shares have bounced back strongly from their early April lows. 

Last week, it said its BetMGM US joint venture had swung to a profit in the first quarter of 2025, and reported its own better-than-expected Q1 update. The company also confirmed Stella David as chief executive, having been in temporary charge since February. Entain shares rose 14% last week, making it the FTSE 100’s best performer.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

Index funds that “own the world” were the key theme last week, with Fidelity Index World P and Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity entering the top 10. Making way were two actively managed funds: F&C and JPMorgan Global Growth & Income.

This brings the number of global index funds in the list to five, with Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity, HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc and Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index also featuring. Another index fund also appears, L&G Global Technology Index.

A possible driver behind global index funds’ climb up the table is that investors may have turned a bit more confident on the back of global markets making a tentative recovery over the past month, since US president Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on implementing tariffs for most countries.

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It has also been a strong decade for global and US markets, which has helped fuel the passive fund boom. If trickier times are ahead, it will be interesting to see whether investors stick by passive funds or instead look to active fund managers in the hope that stock picking skill will better navigate choppier waters.

The remaining four funds are actively managed. Topping the table is low-risk fund Royal London Short Term Money Market, which invests in short-term bonds with the aim of providing a cash-like return.

In third place is Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT). It invests in global businesses, including up to 30% in private companies that are tapping into technological advancements.

Next, in fifth place is Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW). It invests in UK wind farms and aims to provide investors with a yearly dividend that increases in line with RPI inflation. It has successfully achieved this each year since launch in 2013.

Finally, in eighth place is City of London Ord (LSE:CTY), a “dividend hero” that has increased payouts each year since 1966. It mainly sticks to FTSE 100 companies that demonstrate good prospects for growing their profits and dividends. It is managed by veteran fund manager Job Curtis, who has been at the helm since 1991.

Funds and trusts section written by ii’s Kyle Caldwell.