Top 10 most-popular investment funds: March 2026
New funds enter the rankings amid Iran crisis and macro outlook updates.
1st April 2026 15:13
by Nina Kelly from interactive investor
Unsurprisingly perhaps amid the Middle East conflict, there is a new number one in our ranking of the most-bought funds, which is based on the number of buys during the month, with regular investing excluded.
Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Acc has displaced Artemis Global Income I Acc from the top spot likely as a result of investors seeking a short-term home for their cash as markets whipsaw on the latest news from Iran.
Investors could also be utilising any of their remaining 2025-26 ISA allowance before it resets on 6 April, opting for a low-risk investment option amid geopolitical uncertainty.
In addition, the war in the Middle East means that the Bank of England is unlikely to lower interest rates in the near term, meaning the yield on money market funds is likely to remain inflation-beating, since yields are closely tied to the base rate - currently 3.75%. Inflation came in at 3% in February, but a prolonged US/Israel war with Iran and the consequent spike in the oil price - $118 per barrel at the time of writing - raises the risk of higher inflation in future.
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An active specialist fund, Jupiter Gold & Silver I GBP Acc , which is focused on miners, has re-entered the rankings in 10th place. Perceived as a safe haven, the price of gold has tumbled from record highs recently. We recently interviewed mining experts who shared their thoughts on the outlook for the precious metal.
Contrarian fund manager Jacob de Tusch-Lec, who oversees third-ranked Artemis Global Income, was interviewed by interactive investor in March on topics including the value fund’s underweight to the US, investing in pick-and-shovel plays on artificial intelligence (AI), and the key drivers of its strong outperformance. The fund can be owned for 0.83% a year.
De Tusch-Lec said that, “Over the last three, four, five months, we have added a bit more to pharmaceuticals, which have become quite cheap, and taken down some of our banks and defence exposure. Fundamentally, the portfolio is still the same. We’re overweight financials, we’re underweight tech and the US, and overweight emerging markets.”
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The rest of the top 10 table is made up of passive funds. Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index £ Acc has risen to the second spot. This diversified index fund, which tracks the performance of more than 7,000 stocks, also offers investors exposure to emerging markets as well as developed ones, and can be owned for 0.23%.
Two other global trackers in the top 10 were HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc, in fifth place, and Fidelity Index World P Acc - a new entry - in eighth place. The latter fund, despite having “world” in its name, has a 99.7% weighting to developed markets. Their respective yearly costs are 0.13% and 0.12%
However, none of these three funds can claim the title of the cheapest global tracker. My colleague Kyle Caldwell reported yesterday that Invesco has trimmed the yearly fee on its Invesco MSCI World ETF (LSE:MXWO) from 0.19% to 0.05%. However, this ETF is confined to tracking developed markets only.
Second-ranked Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index is not the only Vanguard entry in the top 10, with long-term investor favourites from the US fund house, Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity A Acc, Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity A Acc, and Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity A Acc, also making the cut in sixth, fourth and seventh place respectively. Two of the multi-asset trio appear on ii’s Quick-start funds list and all have an ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 0.20% a year.
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Specialist tech tracker L&G Global Technology Index Trust is still drawing investors keen on the Magnificent Seven stocks and the AI theme and is unchanged from last month in ninth place.
The two funds that exited the ranking are Artemis SmartGARP European Equity and Vanguard FTSE UK Equity Income Index £ Acc.
Top 10 most-popular funds in March 2026
| Fund | Sector | Change on last month | One-year return to 1 April (%) | Three-year return to 1 April (%) |
| Royal London Short Term Money Market (Accumulating) | Short Term Money Market | Up one | 4.2% | 15.2% |
| Vanguard FTSE Global All Cp Idx £ Acc | Global | Up two | 17.2% | 47% |
| Artemis Global Income I Acc | Global Equity Income | Down two | 42% | 122% |
| Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity | Mixed Investment 40%-85% Shares | Down one | 14.9% | 38.1% |
| HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc | Global | No change | 15% | 47.3% |
| Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity A Acc | Global | No change | 18% | 47.2% |
| Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity A Acc | Mixed Investment 40%-85% Shares | Up one | 11.8% | 29.5% |
| Fidelity Index World P Acc | Global | New entry | 14.2% | 49% |
| L&G Global Technology Index Trust | Technology | No change | 27.9% | 93% |
| Jupiter Gold & Silver I GBP Acc | Specialist | New entry | 102.3% | 187.1% |
Source: interactive investor. Performance data to 1 April 2026. Note: the top 10 is based on the number of “buys” during the month of March. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Most-bought active funds
Two money market funds, Fidelity Cash W Acc and Vanguard Sterling Short-Term Money Markets A GBP Acc, have re-entered the top 10 list of the most-bought active strategies.
As explained above, in investors’ eyes money market funds remain attractive because the Bank of England is unlikely to lower interest rates given the conflict in the Middle East and the inflation threat. It means money market yields will remain at inviting levels. Investors may also be allocating money to these low-risk, cash-like funds amid investing indecision given the backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty as tax year end approaches.
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Other money market fund options in the top 10 include investor favourite Royal London Short Term Money Market (Accumulating), in first place. The distributing (dividends paid out) share class, Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Inc, is also in the top 10 and has risen four places to fifth.
Fund house Artemis has two of its SmartGARP strategies in the table, Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity and Artemis SmartGARP European Equity, although the former has fallen six places to the 10th spot. SmartGARP stands for Smart Growth At a Reasonable Price.
WS Blue Whale Growth R Sterling Acc is the final new entry in eighth place. This concentrated fund - 33 holdings according to its latest available factsheet - has an annual fee of 1.07%. It has 69% invested in the US market and its top 10 holdings include Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO), SK Hynix, a South Korean semiconductor stock, and Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ:LRCX).
Top 10 most-bought active funds in March 2026
| Position | Fund | Change on last month |
| 1 | Royal London Short Term Money Market (Accumulating) | Up one |
| 2 | Artemis Global Income I Acc | Down one |
| 3 | Jupiter Gold & Silver I GBP Acc | Up two |
| 4 | Fidelity Cash W Acc | New entry |
| 5 | Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Inc | Up four |
| 6 | Artemis SmartGARP European Equity | Down three |
| 7 | Vanguard Sterling Short-Term Money Markets A GBP Acc | New entry |
| 8 | WS Blue Whale Growth R Sterling Acc | New entry |
| 9 | Artemis Global Income I Inc | Down three |
| 10 | Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity | Down six |
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