Top 10 most-popular investment funds: February 2021
Fundsmith Equity is knocked off the top spot, and a new fund enters our list.
1st March 2021 14:22
by Nina Kelly from interactive investor
Share on
Fundsmith Equity is knocked off the top spot, and a new fund enters our list.
Fundsmith Equityfounder Terry Smith, who interactive investor recently interviewed on subjects including Neil Woodford’s return and bitcoin, is again forced to surrender first place in our monthly ranking to Baillie Gifford American.
Smith’s flagship fund had sat at the top of our table of most-bought funds, which is based on the number of buys during the month by interactive investor customers, since June 2018 until it was ousted in December 2020 by Baillie Gifford American. After returning to the number one spot in January 2021, it has yet again been pushed into second place.
- Invest with ii: Top Investment Funds | Index Tracker Funds | FTSE Tracker Funds
Baillie Gifford American is the only fund in the table, see below, that boasts a three-digit one-year performance figure (105%). Its three-year figure is similarly impressive at 202%, with its closest rival beingBaillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth (148%). In January, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was Baillie Gifford American’s biggest holding, but the fund has since trimmed its exposure to the electric car maker to take some profits. Many voices, including our technical analyst John Burford are questioning whether Elon Musk’s company has run out of road. Baillie Gifford American’s top holding is now Canadian e-commerce firm Shopify (NYSE:SHOP).
Another noteworthy result from February’s ranking is the renewed dominance of Baillie Gifford, which has a total of seven funds in the table. Early last month, the Pridham report revealed that Baillie Gifford was the most successful active fund manager in attracting investors to its fund range in 2020. Three Baillie Gifford funds made the top 10 performing funds of 2020 list, and all three funds figure in February’s most-bought list. They are: Baillie Gifford Positive Change, Baillie Gifford Global Discovery, andBaillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth.
In addition, analysis carried out by interactive investor’s collective editor Kyle Caldwell demonstrated that funds from the Edinburgh-based asset manager’s stable have been among the best performers since the Covid-19 sell-off a year ago. Baillie Gifford American was in second place in the top performers’ list, while five other Baillie Gifford funds that feature in February’s table (see below) also feature in the top 20 list for performance since the Covid sell-off.
The same report revealed that the China/Greater China Investment Association sector is the top performer since the Covid-19 sell-off, with the IA Asia Pacific Excluding Japan in fourth place. This perhaps goes some way to explaining continued investor appetite for Baillie Gifford Chinaand Baillie Gifford Pacific, which remain in fourth and sixth place, respectively, in our monthly ranking. China, for example, has not been as hard hit by the pandemic as the US and UK, for example, and its economy has roared back to life.
Baillie Gifford Positive Changeheld on to its position in third place, with 75% of professional investors revealing that they expect all funds to integrate ESG (environmental, social and governance) factorswithin five years. However, some voices warn that the ESG ‘megatrend’ is a bubble waiting to burst.
- Watch our interviews with star fund managers, analysts and industry experts. Subscribe to our YouTube channel
- Take control of your retirement planning with our award-winning, low-cost Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
Multi-asset fundBaillie Gifford Managed, was the only new entry to our most-bought list in February and entered the table in 10th place. Among its top 10 holdings are e-commerce giants Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Wayfair (NYSE:W), and streaming platform Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU).
Shifting the attention away from Baillie Gifford, the only two passive funds in the table areVanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity andVanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity, which are two of the low-cost options in interactive investor’s Quick-Start funds range. Vanguard’s 80% Equity fund has remained in seventh place, while the 60% Equity option has fallen one place to ninth.
Top 10 most popular funds: February 2021
| Rank | Fund | IA sector | Ranking change since previous month | 1-year return to 1 Feb (%) | 3-year return to 1 Feb (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baillie Gifford American | North America | Up 1 | 105.35 | 202.56 |
| 2 | Fundsmith Equity | Global | Down 1 | 17.99 | 51.71 |
| 3 | Baillie Gifford Positive Change | Global | No change | 73.76 | 140.54 |
| 4 | Baillie Gifford China | China | No change | 59.74 | N/A |
| 5 | Baillie Gifford Global Discovery | Global | No change | 75.4 | 130.61 |
| 6 | Baillie Gifford Pacific | Asia Pacific Excluding Japan | No change | 74.91 | 88.17 |
| 7 | Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity | Mixed investment 40%-85% shares | No change | 8.7 | 22.26 |
| 8 | Baillie Gifford Long-Term Global Growth | Global | Up 2 | 83.46 | 148.15 |
| 9 | Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity | Mixed investment 40%-85% shares | Down 1 | 6.58 | 19.86 |
| 10 | Baillie Gifford Managed | Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | New entry | 34.66 | 57.09 |
Source: interactive investor. Note: the top 10 is based on the number of “buys” during the month of February 2021.
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.