Top 10 most-popular investment funds: December 2025

Investors ended the year the same way they started it by seeking out global exposure, with low-cost index funds largely the preferred option.

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Four funds sit in the Investment Association’s (IA) Global sector, with each providing returns in line with how the global stock market performs: Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index, HSBC FTSE All-World Index, Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity and Fidelity Index World. Also offering up plenty of exposure to global shares are Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity and Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity.  

The rankings are based on the number of buys during the month, with regular investing excluded. 

With index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), it is important to look under the bonnet and examine which index the fund is tracking. Some global strategies stick to only developed markets, while others have some exposure to emerging markets.

For example, despite having “World” in its title, the Fidelity Index World fund doesn’t have any exposure to emerging markets, while both HSBC FTSE All-World Index and Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index have weightings to less-established markets.

One noteworthy change compared with the top 10 rankings at the start of the year (view January 2025’s top 10 here), is that dedicated US exposure has become less prominent, with Vanguard US Equity Index and UBS S&P 500 Index no longer featuring (both were in top 10 at start of the year).

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Some investors have turned their attention to active funds that invest differently from the index, reflected in Artemis Global Income in second place, as well as Artemis SmartGARP European Equity, a new entry in 10th place.

Artemis Global Income is a value-focused fund. It is light on US exposure, holding just over a quarter of its portfolio in the country. In contrast, the MSCI World Index, which follows the ups and downs of 1,321 global stocks across 23 developed markets, holds 72.5% in US companies. It launched 15 years ago, and the same stock picker – Jacob de Tusch-Lec – remains at the helm. 

Artemis SmartGARP European Equity uses its “proprietary SmartGARP process, which seeks to remove behavioural biases when identifying opportunities”. SmartGARP stands for Smart Growth At a Reasonable Price. Manager Philip Wolstencroft seeks undervalued companies that he expects to outperform. Wolstencroft founded the SmartGARP investment process.

The strong performance of both Artemis funds over multiple time periods will have captured the attention of investors. As well as outperforming peers, with one- and three-year gains strong (as shown in the table below), the five-year returns are also impressive. Over that time period, Artemis Global Income is up 149.3% versus 59.6% for the Global sector, while Artemis SmartGARP European Equity is up 152.6% versus 48.1% for the Europe Excluding UK sector.

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Elsewhere, technology remains a key theme for many investors, with L&G Global Technology Index keeping its place in the rankings, although dipping four places to seventh. One thing to bear in mind with this fund is that it is highly concentrated, with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) accounting for more than half its portfolio.

Unchanged at the top is the Royal London Short Term Money Market Acc (accumulation share class), which offers a cash-like return through investing in very low-risk bonds with short lifespans, typically just a couple of months. Returns, although never  guaranteed, are typically in line with the Bank of England base rate. The fund, which holds more than £10 billion in assets, has a current yield of 4.06%.

The distribution share class version slipped out of the overall top 10, but remains in the top 10 active funds table.

Top 10 most-popular funds in December 2025 

Performance data to 30 December 2025 from Trustnet. Note: the top 10 is based on the number of “buys” during the month of December. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Top 10 most-bought active funds in December 2025

Among the top 10 actively managed funds, money market funds remain popular. As well as Royal London Short Term Money Market (accumulating) fund topping the overall table, the distributing share class (Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Inc) also features among the active fund names, in fifth place. It is joined by Fidelity Cash, Vanguard Sterling Short-Term Money Market and L&G Cash Trust in seventh, ninth, and 10th place respectively.

While the level of income that money market funds are generating is attractive and ahead of inflation, bear in mind that yields will fall as and when UK interest rates are cut further. As our recent Bond Boss columnist pointed out, “Cash is unbeatable for low volatility and minimal risk of drawdowns. But that safety comes at the cost of lower returns. Short-dated corporate bonds, by contrast, can offer a yield increase for only a slight increase in risk.”

Therefore, it will be interesting to see whether demand for money market funds cools in 2026 as and when interest rates are cut further. In theory, lower rates could lead some investors to take on greater risk elsewhere in pursuit of potentially higher returns.

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In another example of investors looking for global funds offering something different from the wider market, Ranmore Global Equity retains its place in the table in sixth place. Manager Sean Peche explained in a recent video interview with interactive investor that he focuses on looking for undervalued companies and avoids worrying about the composition of the global stock market.

Commodities remain an area of interest, with Jupiter Gold & Silver advancing three places to fourth. Various drivers led both precious metals to soar in 2025, including geopolitical risks, the weakness in the US dollar and high government debt levels. For gold, another key factor has been increased buying by central banks. For more on the yellow metal, a recent On The Money podcast episode examined the outlook.

A third Artemis fund, Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity - and another from its SmartGARP range - joins the most-bought active funds table in eighth place. This fund is also managed by Philip Wolstencroft.

Top 10 most-bought active funds in December 2025