10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 31 July 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

A quartet of new entries in this list of most-bought stocks in ISAs on the ii platform have dumped the previous week’s highflyers – Space Exploration Technologies Corp Class A (NASDAQ:SPCX), Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN) and Centrica (LSE:CNA) - to the bottom half of the table.

Barclays (LSE:BARC) kicked off the bank sector reporting season, and it tops the list for the first time despite a disappointing reaction to latest results. Shares ended the week down over 3%, the worst of all the high street banks, triggering some bargain hunting.

Results were good, but knockout numbers from the big American banks had already raised the bar, and a lot of good news was already in the price. 

According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, 90% of European banks have beaten expectations this reporting season, and two-thirds upgraded some parts of their guidance. Because expectations were already so high, Barclays shares were punished because the revenue beat didn’t drop through to the bottom line.

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That said, Morgan Stanley attributes a chunk of the sell-off to profit taking and says, “we ultimately believe management is taking advantage of the strong revenue environment to front load costs, and it remains on track to deliver >14% [return on tangible equity] 2028E.” It maintains its overweight rating and 610p price target.

A 25% plunge in share price to its lowest since April 2025 generated interest in Rentokil Initial (LSE:RTO), meaning the pest control giant makes only its second appearance in this top 10 list.

The new CEO withdrew the group’s North America margin target of 20% to prioritise volume growth and investment. He warned that the company was not exploiting its scale, so would focus on simplifying an “overly complex” business.

“While execution uncertainty has risen (again), this now looks well discounted in the valuation,” argues Morgan Stanley. It keeps its overweight stance based on potential for stronger growth, margins and cash conversion, but warns the “path to re-rating [is] likely to be lumpy”.

Georgina Energy  Ordinary Shares (LSE:GEX) also makes its second appearance in the top 10 having made its debut in May. And it was certainly an exciting week, shares in the £28 million company were up from just over 6p to a peak of 15p early Friday before ending the session below 10p.

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It said last week it will begin drilling water wells at its 100% owned Hussar prospect EP513 in the Officer Basin, Western Australia. This will support the Ensign 970 drill rig in a 50-day drill programme through September targeting helium, hydrogen and natural gas. It also raised £1.5 million from a fundraising at 9p a share. News this morning that an extra £0.5 million had been raised on the same terms triggered a rally to 13.43p.

Yo-yo stock Glencore (LSE:GLEN) is back in sixth place, up from 12th last week. Shares fell to a two-week low at 500p before bouncing back to 555p Friday morning. Investors liked half-year trading profit ahead of City forecasts and an increase in full-year production estimates. Some tweaks to price targets mean Berenberg is now at 750p, RBC at 610p, Morgan Stanley at 590p and JPMorgan at 510p.

The four stocks making way for this week’s new entries are Tesla, Alphabet, easyJet and BAE Systems. 

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISA 

Investors continue to be drawn to global approaches, dedicated technology exposure and some high-yielding opportunities.

Six of the top 10 invest globally, with four tracking the up and down fortunes of the world’s biggest companies: Vanguard FTSE Global All Cp Idx £ Acc (BD3RZ58), HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc (BMJJJF9), Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity A Acc (B4PQW15) and Fidelity Index World P Acc (BJS8SJ3).

One global tracker, Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity, has dropped off the list.

The two other global approaches are actively managed by professional stock pickers and invest notably differently from the composition of the global stock market.

Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT) focuses on disruptive growth businesses, which leads to a clear focus on the technology sector. Space Exploration Technologies Corp Class A (NASDAQ:SPCX) accounts for a quarter of its assets, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM) and NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) the next largest holdings with weightings of 6.4% and 5.0%.

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Artemis Global Income I Acc (B5ZX1M7) is a value-focused fund that holds only around a third of its assets in North America compared to around 70% for the MSCI World Index.

Dedicated technology exposure is being played through Polar Capital Technology Ord (LSE:PCT). Around 53% of the PCT portfolio is in the US and Canada, with 18.3% in the Asia-Pacific region. Its top five holdings are NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), TSMC, Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD).

Finally, a third trend is investors eyeing high-yield opportunities through Henderson Far East Income Ord (LSE:HFEL) and Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW), a new entry this week.

Henderson Far East Income comes with a share price dividend yield of almost 10% but has tended to lag its rivals by total returns.

Meanwhile, Greencoat UK Wind has a share price discount to net asset value (NAV) of more than 25% and a 9.8% dividend yield.

The renewable energy infrastructure sector has faced all manner of hurdles over the years, from the effect of higher government bond yields to regulatory changes and the broader malaise hitting investment trusts. Investors backing the sector are hoping for a turnaround, and some may view the yields as high enough to warrant being patient.

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