10 hottest ISA shares, funds and trusts: week ended 5 April 2024

At the start of a new tax year, 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

There were three new entries in the top 10 for the final week of the 2023-24 tax year. First is BT Group (LSE:BT.A), which hasn’t been in this list since early February.

Interest appears to have been prompted by another drop in the share price following a downgrade by analysts at UBS who rate the shares a “sell” with target cut to 100p. There are concerns that newish CEO Allison Kirkby could use fourth-quarter results on 16 May to accelerate the existing strategy, which could threaten the dividend.

Last week’s drop was the third time in 2024 that the shares have failed to hang onto a rally of 5%. It also came despite further share buying by Kirkby who picked up another 50,000 at 109p. At the end of February, Kirkby spent £428,000 on 400,000 shares at 107p.

Ocado Group (LSE:OCDO) makes its debut in the top 10 most-bought ISA stocks, attracting bargain hunters after getting caught up in the broader market sell-off. Shares in the FTSE 100 grocer, which traded above 2,800p during the pandemic, fell 9% Friday to just 379.7p. That’s as low as they’ve been since June 2023 and a level rarely seen in the past six years.  

The lurch lower came the day after Rick Haythornthwaite said he will step down from the Ocado board in a year’s time having taken up the role of chair at NatWest. It also comes a few weeks before Ocado’s AGM at which many expect shareholders to revolt against chief executive Tim Steiner’s proposed £14.8 million incentive plan.

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Rio Tinto Registered Shares (LSE:RIO) is the third and final new entry in the top 10, up from 14th the previous week. As the mining giant held its AGM at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, analysts at Deutsche Bank repeated their “buy”rating, although a cut in price target to 6,000p factors in a weak iron ore price.

Insurer Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN) is top of the list for the first time this ISA season. As well as yielding over 8%, the generous divided-payer’s share price has rallied 17% in the past six months and is near its best levels in two years. Last month’s results were well-received, and investors are keen to see what new CEO chief executive António Simões can do.

US stocks headed in different directions last week. Popular AI chip maker NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) dropped out of the top 10 for first time this ISA season, down to 11th position, while bitcoin play MicroStrategy Inc Class A (NASDAQ:MSTR) missed out on a top 10 place for the first time in five weeks.

But Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) raced seven places up the table to third spot despite announcing first-quarter sales which missed Wall Street forecasts. Deliveries of 386,810 vehicles compared with 484,507 in the previous quarter and analyst estimates of 443,000. Tesla stock is down over a third in 2024 so far and very near a one-year low. Investors are clearly putting trust in Elon Musk and his ability to reinvigorate the business and navigate both fierce competition and the current drop in demand for electric vehicles.

Top 10 funds and trusts in ISAs

Terry Smith's £25 billion Fundsmith Equity dropped one place on the most-bought collectives list last week, falling from second to third. Meanwhile, passive funds pushed up the list, with Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity rising to second place from third, and Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Indexthe first of two new entries, up from 14th position to ninth last week.

With HSBC FTSE All-World Index just outside the top 10 this time at number 11, and Fidelity Index World at 13th, there were three global tracker funds inside the top 15 most popular collectives. 

These sit alongside other popular tracker options: L&G Global Technology Index (unchanged in fourth place) and Vanguard US Equity Index (unchanged in eight place). 

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The other new entry was Royal London Short Term Money Market. In at 10th, it yields just over 5% by investing in fixed-income assets due to mature soon, therefore giving investors a low-risk cash alternative. 

Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT) held on to the top spot. The global trust is back in favour following the board’s announcement that it will spend £1 billion buying back its own shares. 

Jupiter India, Alliance Trust Ord (LSE:ATST) and Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW) round off the rest of the list. Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity and JP Morgan Global Growth & Income drop off. 

Funds and trusts section written by ii’s deputy collectives editor Sam Benstead.