Top 10 most-popular investment funds: April 2026
There’s a newcomer in the rankings, despite plenty of uncertainty threatening to derail stock markets.
1st May 2026 12:13
by Nina Kelly from interactive investor
Low-risk money market fund Royal London Short Term Money Market Y Acc remains in favour among interactive investor customers.
Both the accumulating (first place) and distributing (10th place) share classes make the top 10 table in April, according to the number of buys during the month, with regular investing excluded.
- Invest with ii: SIPP Account | Stocks & Shares ISA | See all Investment Accounts
The Bank of England yesterday held interest rates at 3.75%, which means the yield on cash-like funds remains attractive, since it is closely tied to the base rate. Although inflation crept up to 3.3% in March after the Iran war triggered a spike in fuel prices, Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, has stressed that policymakers will not rush to hike interest rates.
However, in the event that rates are lifted - with markets pricing in two hikes this year - it will only increase the appeal of money market funds since yields will rise in tandem.
As well as being a popular safe haven for money amid market volatility triggered by the war in the Middle East, investors may have chosen to allocate any remaining ISA allowance to the Royal London Short Term Money Market fund in the last days of the 2025-26 tax year, utilising it as a short-term home before diverting the cash into other opportunities.
Data published by ii this week revealed that the Royal London fund is also the most popular option among ii SIPP customers in the accumulation and drawdown phases.
However, bear in mind that while cash is a useful component, it is important that a portfolio is sufficiently diversified, with exposure to growth-producing investments, such as funds that invest in shares. Global funds are great options for core holdings to provide growth and safeguard against risk due to their investment across multiple regions.
Passive funds dominate our top 10 table, but actively managed strategies are in short supply. Along with Royal London Short Term Money Market, the only other active fund in the ranking is value-focused Artemis Global Income I Acc, in second place.For a global fund, it has a low exposure to the US (39%, according to its 31 March factsheet), with 28.4% allocated to emerging markets and 26% to Europe. Its top holdings include Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), Tenaris SA (MTA:TEN), a steel pipe manufacturer, and South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace.
Three Vanguard LifeStrategy funds, the 100% Equity A Acc, 80% Equity A Acc, and 60% Equity A Acc versions, are in the top 10, as usual, ranked sixth, fifth and eighth respectively. Vanguard has launched global versions of the LifeStrategy fund, which we examine in this piece. Two of the longstanding LifeStrategy funds appear in our experts’ ISA tips article for the 2026-27 tax year. Investors can own any of these one-stop shop funds for 0.20% a year.
They are joined in the top 10 by another fund from the Vanguard stable, second-ranked Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index £ Acc, which includes exposure to emerging markets.
Three other trackers make up the remainder of the table, HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc, in fourth place, Fidelity Index World P Acc, in ninth place, and L&G Global Technology Index Trust, in seventh place.
Finally, while our columnist Ian Cowie lauds investment trusts this week, citing performance data and trusts’ ability to gear or borrow among other qualities, ii’s Dave Baxter explains why funds can sometimes be the better option.
The fund exiting the rankings in April was Jupiter Gold & Silver I GBP Acc.
Top 10 most-popular funds in April 2026
| Fund | Sector | Change on last month | One-year return to 1 May (%) | Three-year return to 1 May (%) |
| Royal London Short Term Money Market (Accumulating) | Short Term Money Market | No change | 4.1% | 15.2% |
| Vanguard FTSE Global All Cp Idx £ Acc | Global | No change | 28% | 57.4% |
| Artemis Global Income I Acc | Global Equity Income | No change | 53% | 136% |
| HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc | Global | Up one | 28.1% | 59% |
| Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity | Mixed Investment 40%-85% Shares | Down one | 22% | 45% |
| Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity A Acc | Global | No change | 28% | 56% |
| L&G Global Technology Index Trust | Technology | Up one | 51% | 130% |
| Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity A Acc | Mixed Investment 40%-85% Shares | No change | 17% | 34.2% |
| Fidelity Index World P Acc | Global | No change | 25% | 59% |
| Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Inc (Distributing) | Short Term Money Market | New entry | 4.1% | 15.2% |
Source: interactive investor. Performance data to 1 May 2026. Note: the top 10 is based on the number of “buys” during the month of April. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Most-bought active funds
Polar Capital Global Tech I Inc GBP is the only new fund to enter the top 10 active rankings, resulting in the ejection of Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity.
The £12 billion Polar Capital fund, which has an OCF of 1.09%, typically owns 60 to 85 positions. Currently, the portfolio contains 67 companies as at the end of March. Top 10 holdings include NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM), Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO), and Lumentum Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LITE). According to the fund factsheet dated 31 March, the fund’s active share is 62%. Active share is a measure of the percentage of stock holdings in a fund that differ from the benchmark index. A figure of over 80% would mean a fund is investing in a way that is substantially differently from the benchmark.
As Saltydog Investor Douglas Chadwick notes, Polar Capital Global Tech has been the top-performing tech fund in the Investment Association (IA) Technology and Technology Innovation so far this year, up 30%, with the fund “differentiating itself by reducing its reliance on the Magnificent Seven in favour of core AI supply-chain companies”.
The tech-focused Nasdaq index has rebounded since the start of the Iran conflict on 28 February with most of the Magnificent Seven stocks reporting earnings this week, namely Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Meta Platforms Inc Class A (NASDAQ:META), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).
As explained above, investors still favour money market funds in the current environment, with both the accumulating and distributing versions of Royal London Short Term Money Market fund appearing in the most-bought active funds table, alongside Fidelity Cash W Acc and Vanguard Sterling Short-Term Money Markets A GBP Acc. Money market funds can be held inside a stock & shares ISA or a SIPP.
Jupiter Gold & Silver I GBP Acc has tumbled down the rankings, from third to 10th place, with investors likely having taken profits in the wake of a huge gold rally earlier in the year.
Top 10 most-bought active funds April 2026
| Position | Fund | Change on last month |
| 1 | Royal London Short Term Money Market (Accumulating) | No change |
| 2 | Artemis Global Income I Acc | No change |
| 3 | Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Inc | Up two |
| 4 | WS Blue Whale Growth R Sterling Acc | Up four |
| 5 | Artemis SmartGARP European Equity | Up one |
| 6 | Polar Capital Global Tech I Inc GBP | New entry |
| 7 | Vanguard Sterling Short-Term Money Markets A GBP Acc | No change |
| 8 | Artemis Global Income I Inc | Up one |
| 9 | Fidelity Cash W Acc | Down five |
| 10 | Jupiter Gold & Silver I GBP Acc | Down seven |
Important information: Please remember, investment values can go up or down and you could get back less than you invest. If you’re in any doubt about the suitability of a Stocks & Shares ISA, you should seek independent financial advice. The tax treatment of this product depends on your individual circumstances and may change in future. If you are uncertain about the tax treatment of the product you should contact HMRC or seek independent tax advice.
Important information – SIPPs are aimed at people happy to make their own investment decisions. Investment value can go up or down and you could get back less than you invest. You can normally only access the money from age 55 (57 from 2028). We recommend seeking advice from a suitably qualified financial adviser before making any decisions. Pension and tax rules depend on your circumstances and may change in future.
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.