Most-bought investments: April 2025

• Investors favour money market funds in this period of market volatility – with the Royal London Short Term Money Market Fund and Vanguard Sterling Short-Term Money Markets Fund taking the lead
• Investors go for gold: with the iShares Physical Gold ETC and Greatland Gold both holding top 10 positions  
• FTSE heavyweights still prove popular: with BP, Legal & General, and Rolls-Royce taking the top three spots in most-bought equities 

interactive investor (ii), the UK’s second-largest platform for private investors, reveals its most-bought equities, funds, and investment trusts in April 2025, which proved to be a choppy time for markets.

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Following the news of trade wars and tariffs across the pond, interactive investor’s customers flocked to money market funds, with the Royal London Short Term Money Market Fund topping the list of most-bought active funds, along with a new entrant – the Vanguard Sterling Short-Term Money Markets Fund – coming in at number four.

During the first two weeks of April, interactive investor saw a 77% increase in daily money market fund purchases compared with the last two weeks of March, showing that investors were looking to move money into less volatile and less risky assets.

Gold (often considered a safe-haven asset) was also popular with investors during this period, with the iShares Physical Gold ETC taking the number two spot for index funds and ETFs, and Greatland Gold entering the top 10 most-bought equities for the first time – coming in at number seven.

The top investment trusts saw two new entrants this month – Polar Capital Technology, which has frequently dropped off and subsequently re-entered the top 10 list over the last six months, and also Henderson Far East Income.

Nevertheless, despite the headlines we still saw some investor interest in the US market with Nvidia, Tesla, and Amazon all featuring in the top 10 equities list once again – with investors attempting to take advantage of market volatility by buying quality companies during the dip.

Back on our home turf, BP shot to the number one spot after not featuring in March’s list, with Legal & General and Rolls-Royce also coming in at spots two and three respectively. 

Below, interactive investor’s experts explore April 2025’s most-bought data in more depth.

Funds and investment trusts

Commenting on the most-bought funds and investment trusts on ii in April,Kyle Caldwell, Funds and Investment Education Editor, says: “Investors were sizing up both growth and income opportunities in April, a month when US stock markets made a partial recovery from the sharp falls occurring over the past couple of months.

“Since US President Donald Trump pressed the pause button on the implementation of tariffs for 90 days for countries excluding China, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have risen from their lows.   

“While no one knows if this market recovery will be sustained, many investors are sticking to their long-term plan. As a result, eight of the top 10 most-popular investment trusts in April retained their places.

“Of the two new entrants this month one is growth focused and the other offers a high yield. Polar Capital Technology, which invests in shares that fit into technology themes it has identified, entered in seventh place. Also in the top 10 is peer Allianz Technology in eighth place. The other new entry in 10th, Henderson Far East Income, has been catching the eye of income-seeking investors, with its high yield of 11.7%. 

“For funds, our overall rankings (for both active funds and index funds) only experienced some minor reshuffling. The top 10 is dominated by global index funds, with only two active funds featuring: Royal London Short Term Money Market and Fundsmith Equity, in first and 10th place respectively.

“While passive strategies hold sway in the most-bought funds’ list overall, we have started sharing the data on the most-bought active funds to provide a more nuanced understanding of what investors are buying. The key theme of the newcomers to the most-bought active funds’ list in April were money market funds, including one from the Vanguard stable, namely the Vanguard Sterling Short-Term Money Markets fund. The other new entry April is the distribution version of the popular Royal London Short Term Money Market fund. The accumulation share class means dividends are reinvested, while distribution means investors receive the payouts. Money market funds now comprise half the most-bought active list.”

Equities

Commenting on the most-bought stocks on ii in April, Keith Bowman, Equity Analyst at interactive investor, says:“April was a tough month for investors given Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariffs. The FTSE 350 fell 0.66% and the broad S&P 500 declined by 0.76%.

“Investors desire for safe havens helped gold rise by close to 5% during the month and helped to bring gold plays such as Greatland Gold to the attention of investors.  

“The UK’s more lenient proposed trade tariff and broadly robust results helped refocus attention on UK economic play Lloyds Bank. It re-entered the most bought list with its shares up 1.7% during April. 

“A potential trade war and feared global recession left economic indicator oil down 18% during April. That impacted heavily on oil major BP, bringing its shares back into the sharp investor focus. BP shares fell by almost 20% over the month, further hindered by concerns for group strategic direction going forward. 

“Elsewhere, Tesla stayed under the spotlight, with results and reduced auto sales a focus, while a 3% fall for shares of global online retailer Amazon, on concerns for how it will deal with trade tariffs, left its shares being potentially bargain hunted.”

Most-bought investments on interactive investor (ii) in April 2025