The most widely held global income shares among fund managers
Even dividend hunters find tech stocks hard to avoid.
5th August 2026 13:43
by Dave Baxter from interactive investor
Global equity income funds have plenty of appeal on the face of it, what with their remit to hunt internationally (and importantly, beyond the UK) for dividend-paying shares.
But they often end up holding many shares more associated with growth investing in an attempt to keep up with the total returns generated by the market – meaning you shouldn’t always take too much inspiration from their portfolios.
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We recently detailed the shares most commonly held by 20 of the biggest global growth funds out there, largely based on top 10 holding disclosures from the end of June.
This time we give the same treatment to 15 of the biggest global income funds available to UK investors.
A couple of passive funds such as the Vanguard FTSE AllWld HiDivYld ETF $Dis GBP (LSE:VHYL) are of a good size but we restrict our analysis to actively managed funds.
Are income funds really growth funds?
Income managers will understandably want to produce a level of capital growth, and might find it hard to ignore some of the market’s leading names.
They also sometimes argue that certain companies are at least growing their dividends well, if from an extremely low base.
That argument is often applied to the big tech names, and as our table shows they are well represented in our sample of funds.
Source: factsheets/interactive investor.
Interestingly it’s not one of the Magnificent Seven members topping the table but Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM), whose instrument page on our website shows that it comes with a 0.86% dividend yield.
Putting a recent sell-off aside, TSMC shares have had a storming run of performance, roughly doubling in value over the course of 12 months as artificial intelligence (AI) excitement has spread to the emerging markets.
That may have helped to push the stock into the top holding lists for certain funds.
This has created a situation where potentially quite different global income funds are backing the stock.
One holder is Artemis Global Income I Inc (B5N9956), which has really benefited from exposure to emerging markets this year but looks almost like a momentum fund via positions in names like TSMC and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd DR (LSE:SMSN).
But other funds that might be viewed as more sedate also have exposure. Take Fidelity Global Dividend W Inc (B777808), which is often seen as a defensive fund but lists TSMC as its top holding (if on a low weighting).
Tech more broadly has quite the presence, with Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) making eight showings and Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), which comes with a mere 0.23% yield, on six.
We see Texas Instruments Inc (NASDAQ:TXN), a semiconductor company, making five appearances, while Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) also sit in the table. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which focuses on AI infrastructure, also makes the list.
Beyond tech
Income investors looking for the next yield play may well look to funds for inspiration and feel a little disappointed on this front.
But some of these names might feel more respectable, as with Texas Instruments offering a yield in excess of 2%. In the context of global markets, many of which yield much less than the UK or Asia, that’s not bad going.
Income hunters might also be interested in the non-tech names on display here.
Think of AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV), an American pharmaceutical company with a yield of around 2.8%.
The company recently reported decent earnings for the first half of 2026 on the back of strong demand for its immunology and neuroscience medicines, although it did slightly lower full-year earnings guidance to account for a planned acquisition. The shares have returned around 20% over a 12-month period.
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In a similar space, there’s pharmaceuticals and diagnostics name Roche Holding AG Ordinary Shares new (SIX:ROP) as well as life sciences company Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK). Both have had stunning share price returns over a 12-month spell, reflecting something of a recovery for the sector.
Oddly this suggests that income investors are crowding into technology and into biotechnology and healthcare, to an extent. And given the dominance of certain shares, investors who want to assess these funds properly would also want to pay attention to their geographical and sector exposures.
If we look at the other names in our table, a couple of popular income plays crop up. There’s Unilever (LSE:ULVR), a stalwart of quality and income portfolios that has run into a series of controversies. And there’s a big US financials stock, in the form of JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM).
As with our growth fund analysis, we will look to revisit this analysis either quarterly or each half year, depending on how much change we come across.
The funds we analysed are listed below:
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.