Top 10 most-popular investment funds: September 2026

September’s rankings tell a familiar story, with investors remaining committed to low-cost global exposure, while money market funds continue to appeal for the defensive part of portfolios. As ever, the rankings exclude regular investing to focus on potentially more tactical “real-time” purchases. 

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Four global tracker funds feature in the top 10, with those providing a dollop of exposure to emerging markets preferred. Vanguard FTSE Global All Cp Idx £ Acc (BD3RZ58), HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc (BMJJJF9) and Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity A Acc (B41XG30) funds all appear higher up the rankings than Fidelity Index World P Acc (BJS8SJ3), which focuses on markets in the developed world.

However, investors should be aware that over the past 18 months the AI rally has fuelled notable gains for a small number of the biggest emerging market stocks. As a result, emerging market returns have become more concentrated and reliant on the big three names of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd DR (LSE:SMSN) and SK hynix Inc ADR (NASDAQ:SKHY). TSMC alone accounts for around 15% of the MSCI Emerging Markets index, while the other two companies make up around 12% between them.

For actively managed funds investing globally, there’s a preference for approaches that are bold in their pursuit of outperforming the market, with Artemis Global Income I Acc (B5ZX1M7) (fifth in our table) one example of a strategy investing sufficiently differently from its benchmark. Among the most popular top 10 actively managed funds (more on this below), two other funds, Artemis SmartGARP Glb Eq I Acc GBP (B2PLJP9) and WS Blue Whale Growth R Sterling Acc (BD6PG78), are further examples of this.

Two other funds from Vanguard’s LifeStrategy stable feature in our top 10: Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity A Acc (B4PQW15) and Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity A Acc (B3TYHH9). These appeal to hands-off investors looking to leave the decision-making to the professionals. The funds have different risk levels. The higher a fund’s exposure to shares, the greater the level of risk.

Other multi-asset fund ranges include interactive investor’s Managed Portfolios, BlackRock MyMap and Legal & General Investment Management’s Multi-Index funds. ii Managed Portfolios are managed on your behalf based on the investment style and risk level you choose.

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Unchanged at the top of the table is Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Acc (B8XYYQ8), while its distribution share class also appears Royal London Short Term Money Mkt Y Inc (B3P2RZ5) in 10th place. Funds in this sector own a diversified basket of safe bonds that are due to mature soon, normally within just a couple of months, meaning that investors can earn an income on their cash with minimal risk. The income generated by the funds is usually around the level of UK interest rates, currently 3.75%.

The enduring popularity of money market funds suggests that many investors remain cautious. While stock markets have delivered strong returns over the past year, some investors are choosing to keep a portion of their portfolio in cash-like investments that seek to deliver a yield while limiting volatility. Others may be using money market funds as a temporary home for cash before deploying it into equities over time.

Top 10 most-popular funds in September 2026

Source: Trustnet. Performance data to 30 September 2026. Note: the top 10 is based on the number of “buys” during the month of September. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Most-bought active funds

Global funds feature heavily among the top 10 actively managed funds, with both share classes of Artemis Global Income appearing, alongside Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity Income and WS Blue Whale Growth.

Value fund Artemis Global Income has been managed since launch in 2010 by Jacob de-Tusch Lec. It has produced strong gains over the past couple of years. It is not as exposed to the US, holding around a third versus 60-70% for a typical global fund. As we have covered separately, its success doesn’t come without worries that the fund behaves too much like a momentum portfolio and might be due a pullback. Another concern is that it relies too much on financials (42% of assets).

Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity and WS Blue Whale Growth are two other examples of strongly performing active funds with differentiated approaches.

The Artemis Global Equity fund’s profile is unlike peers, since it only has a 44% weighting to North America, and there’s 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 isn’t afraid to move away from the index (MSCI 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.”

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Blue Whale Growth, managed since launch in 2017 by Stephen Yiu, has a concentrated and high-turnover approach and looks to maximise outperformance. Yiu is not afraid to ring the changes and give the portfolio an overhaul based on the team’s response to new developments. Reflecting nine years after the fund’s launch, Yiu said:  “We never set out to build a portfolio around a particular sector, geography or investment fashion. At various points Blue Whale has been described as a technology fund, an American growth fund and, more recently, an AI fund. None of those descriptions really captures what we do. Our objective has always been to identify a concentrated portfolio of high-quality businesses capable of maximising long-term outperformance.”

The other key trend is the enduring popularity of money market funds. In this top 10 table, both share classes of the Royal London Short Term Money Market fund are present, along with Fidelity Cash W Acc (BD1RHT8) and Vanguard Stlg S/T Mny Mkts A GBP Acc (BFYDWM5). Money market funds are designed to be low-risk, straightforward products that behave in a cash-like manner. Investors often use them to park cash balances for a short period while deciding where to invest, or to guard against periods of stock market volatility.

Completing the top 10 actively managed funds are Artemis SmartGARP European Eq I Acc GBP (B2PLJD7) and Jupiter Gold & Silver I GBP Acc (BYVJRH9).

Ned Naylor-Leyland, manager of the Jupiter Gold & Silver fund, was recently in our recording studio as part of our Insider Interview series. Topics discussed include the outlook for both precious metals, and how the relationship between silver and gold might one day change. You can watch the video interview via the two links below.

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Top 10 most-bought active funds September 2026