Top 10 most-popular investment funds: August 2026
While some investors were treading water over the summer month, others were buying new funds.
1st September 2026 15:02
by Nina Kelly from interactive investor
Investors largely stuck to the status quo during the holiday month, with just one new fund entering the top 10, according to the number of buys among interactive investor customers in August, with regular investing excluded.
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The Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Acc (B8XYYQ8) fund still heads the top 10 table, but the income share class entered the ranking in 10th place.
The low-risk fund currently yields around 4%. Enthusiasm for the income share class is perhaps representative of heightened circumspection in the face of geopolitical conflict, high valuations, and fears of an AI bubble. interactive investor customers are likely also anticipating a Bank of England interest rate hold (or rise) later this month in the face of elevated inflation amid higher energy costs linked to the Iran war. Since money market fund yields are closely linked to the base rate, this type of fund is particularly attractive to income investors in a rising or static interest rate environment.
Despite the BBC reporting Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey’s weekend warning to G20 finance ministers that artificial intelligence could cause a global economic downturn, many investors remain gung-ho on big tech, with the pure-play L&G Global Technology Index I Acc (B0CNH16) fund moving up two to seventh place. Bailey suggested that any collapse of growth in the AI sector could result in a “future market correction” that impacts the entire globe. However, investor enthusiasm is no doubt fired by funds such as the L&G tracker, which as the table below shows has delivered high returns over one and three years of 39.3% and 122% respectively, albeit these are only short time frames. Companies like AI poster child NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) remain popular, especially after it reported stellar Q2 earnings and uber-bullish estimates for revenue growth of 70% in 2028, eclipsing the 44% analysts expected.
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Appetite for passive funds remained healthy in August, with low-cost trackers making up the bulk of the table. Investors appear to be prioritising exposure to emerging markets, with the Vanguard FTSE Global All Cp Idx £ Acc (BD3RZ58) and HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc (BMJJJF9) fund placing higher up the rankings, in second and third place respectively, while the developed-world focused Fidelity Index World P Acc (BJS8SJ3) ranked in eighth place. However, investors should be aware that the AI rally is impacting emerging markets, with stocks such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd DR (LSE:SMSN), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM) and SK hynix Inc ADR (NASDAQ:SKHY) performing strongly and dominating some EM indices. Consider concentration risk in your own portfolio, and how much exposure to truly developing markets you really have.
As my colleague Dave Baxter has reported, the HSBC FTSE All-World fund used to be one of the cheapest global equity trackers, with a 0.13% yearly fee. But this has now been undercut following the launch of Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap ETF USD Acc GBP (LSE:VALL), which charges just 0.07%. If investors do gravitate towards this cheaper rival, which also offers exposure to emerging markets, it'll be interesting to see whether the HSBC fund slips down the rankings in the months ahead.
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Aside from the Royal London fund, the only other actively managed name in the top 10 is Artemis Global Income I Acc (B5ZX1M7). This value fund, which has delivered strong returns for investors, is not as exposed to the US, and thus technology, as other global peers.
A trio of popular Vanguard multi-asset funds, namely LifeStrategy 100%, LifeStrategy 80% and LifeStrategy 60%, make up the remainder of the top 10.
Top 10 most-popular funds in August 2026
| Fund | Sector | Change on last month | One-year return to 1 Sept (%) | Three-year return to 1 Sept (%) | |
| 1 | Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Acc (B8XYYQ8) | Short Term Money Market | No change | 3.95% | 14.76% |
| 2 | Vanguard FTSE Global All Cp Idx £ Acc (BD3RZ58) | Global | No change | 22.05% | 60.56% |
| 3 | HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc (BMJJJF9) | Global | No change | 22.36% | 64.16% |
| 4 | Artemis Global Income I Acc (B5ZX1M7) | Global Equity Income | Up one | 38.11% | 146.79% |
| 5 | Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity A Acc (B4PQW15) | Mixed Investment 40%-85% Shares | Down one | 18.09% | 49.94% |
| 6 | Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity A Acc (B41XG30) | Global | No change | 22.54% | 61.84% |
| 7 | L&G Global Technology Index I Acc (B0CNH16) | Technology | Up two | 39.31% | 121.61% |
| 8 | Fidelity Index World P Acc (BJS8SJ3) | Global | No change | 20.55% | 62.70% |
| 9 | Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity A Acc (B3TYHH9) | Mixed Investment 40%-85% Shares | Down two | 13.73% | 38.72% |
| 10 | Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Inc (B3P2RZ5) | Short Term Money Market | New | 3.95% | 14.76% |
Source: interactive investor. Performance data to 1 September 2026. Note: the top 10 is based on the number of “buys” during the month of August. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Most-bought active funds
Jupiter Gold & Silver I GBP Acc (BYVJRH9) returned to the most-bought active ranking in eighth place on the back of renewed investor enthusiasm for precious metals as the price of gold rebounded in August.
The fund, which investors can own for 0.92% a year, offers exposure to physical gold and silver as well as mining companies. Specialist funds writer Douglas Chadwick observes “if the selling price of gold rises while mining costs remain relatively stable, higher revenues can feed through quickly to profit margins. That is one reason why gold-mining shares can rise faster than the underlying metal. Unfortunately, the same effect can also work in reverse.”
Alternative assets, such as commodities, are also a useful source of portfolio diversification. Companies among the Jupiter fund’s top 10 holdings (as of 31 July) include Discovery Mining Ltd (TSE:DSV), Wheaton Precious Metals Corp (TSE:WPM) and Fresnillo (LSE:FRES).
Funds from the Artemis stable remained popular among investors seeking active strategies, with Artemis SmartGARP Glb Eq I Acc GBP (B2PLJP9) moving up four to sixth place, while two other Artemis funds were also in the table: Artemis Global Income I Acc (B5ZX1M7) and Artemis SmartGARP European Eq I Acc GBP (B2PLJD7). The Artemis global equity fund’s profile is unlike peers, since it only has a 45% weighting to North America, and there is only one of the so-called Magnificent Seven in its top 10 holdings (Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL)).
Manager Raheel Altaf told our specialist writer David Prosser that he is not afraid to move away from the index, the MSCI ACWI (All Country World Index). “I believe that always looking over your shoulder at the index, fretting about being too different, can ultimately drag on performance...To our mind, this index-agnostic approach is not increasing investment risk but reducing it.”
Money market funds are a consistent presence in this table. Members of ii Community - a free social trading network to connect with investors, talk about your investments and see how your portfolio compares to others - remarking on purchases of the Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Acc (B8XYYQ8) fund, for example, explained that they were “keeping more powder dry”, “moving to risk-off portfolio for Sept/Oct and as approach US mid-terms” while others were “shifting all cash assets in ISAs to equities.”
The latter comment relates to forthcoming ISA changes from April 2027. A new flat-rate charge of 22% will be applied on interest paid on cash within a stocks and shares ISA. However, cash-like money market funds can still be held in the tax wrapper provided that investors do not hold 100% of their portfolio in such funds.
Top 10 most-bought active funds August 2026
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