Top 10 most-popular investment trusts: June 2026

June was a month marked by the ups and downs of growth investing – from the blockbuster Space Exploration Technologies Corp Class A (NASDAQ:SPCX) initial public offering (IPO) to bouts of volatility for the major US tech shares.

In that context, investors continued to buy into some of the investment trusts associated both with technology and the space boom. 

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Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT), which has enjoyed a return to form this year thanks to its big SpaceX position, remains comfortably in the top spot. 

Polar Capital Technology Ord (LSE:PCT), which has this year benefited from greater exposure to emerging markets than some of its rivals, stays in second place, while hard-charging space tech fund Seraphim Space Investment Trust Ord (LSE:SSIT) is still at number three.

The popularity of such trusts continues a trend of recent months, although it remains to be seen whether investors stay the course beyond this point. 

Investors could see the SpaceX IPO as a prompt to take some profits on positions in SMT and SSIT, while sentiment towards the tech sector and the artificial intelligence (AI) theme has proved pretty volatile in recent weeks. 

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It’s worth noting that PCT’s closest rival, Allianz Technology Trust Ord (LSE:ATT), is also in the list but has slipped down to number nine.

Sticking with the idea of the US tech majors, JPMorgan Global Growth & Income Ord (LSE:JGGI) clings on at the bottom of our list, having only entered the table last month. 

The fund has a flexible remit when it comes to its investment style but has plenty of exposure to the Magnificent Seven and other growth stocks. 

Top holding NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) accounted for 6.6% of the fund at the end of May, with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) on 5%, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) on 4.7% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM) on 4%.

F&C Investment Trust Ord (LSE:FCIT), the heavily diversified global equity trust that doesn’t deviate too much from the underlying market – and therefore also offers plenty of Magnificent Seven exposure – moves up by two slots, to number seven.

Beyond the growth paradigm

June gave us the same list of bestselling trusts as May, meaning we again get a few names that don’t fall into the broad category of “tech” or “growth”. And we saw some jostling for position among these names.

Let’s first discuss Henderson Far East Income Ord (LSE:HFEL), which gains five slots to reach fifth place. The attractions of this trust are obvious enough, with its share price dividend yield coming to 9.4%.

It has also benefited from the big rally in Asian and emerging market shares, with the trust making a share price total return of 26% over a 12-month period.

But the trust is certainly not without fault, given that it seems to sacrifice total returns in the name of a higher yield. Its 26% return over the year to the end of June actually looks pretty meagre when the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan index has made around 50%. 

If we look at the fund’s closest rivals, JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income Ord (LSE:JAGI) has returned 76%, with Schroder Oriental Income Ord (LSE:SOI) on 59.1%, Aberdeen Asian Income Fund Limited (LSE:AAIF) on 57.5% and Invesco Asia Dragon Trust Ord (LSE:IAD) on 48.3%.

HFEL shares have also tended to command something of a rich valuation in recent history, and currently trade at a premium of around 5% to net asset value (NAV).

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If we look at other big moves in the list, 3i Group Ord (LSE:III) has fallen back by four places. 

The private equity giant has become a target for bargain hunters since late last year thanks to softer sales growth in key markets for main holding Action, as well as some potentially concerning US expansion plans.

The trust’s shares traded on a 17.1% discount at the time of writing. It will be interesting to see whether investors continue to buy in, given that a reassuring update for Action buoyed investor sentiment in late June.

3i Group shares jumped on the back of that update, and actually returned around 9% in June alone.

We otherwise see a couple of favourites still in the list. There’s the high-yielder Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW), which continues to draw in the punters even as drama continues to haunt its sector. 

In recent times we have seen a dispute between the board and investment manager of Aquila European Renewables Ord (LSE:AERI), the suspension of dividend payments at SDCL Efficiency Income Trust plc. (LSE:SEIT) as it prepares for a wind-down and a slightly fraught set of results from NextEnergy Solar Ord (LSE:NESF).

On the positive side of things we saw a bid for Bluefield Solar Income Fund (LSE:BSIF), as well as Renewables Infrastructure Grp (LSE:TRIG) comfortably passing a continuation vote.

One other name in our bestseller list, the dividend favourite City of London Ord (LSE:CTY), maintains its place in the number six spot.

Our data excludes regular investing and gives a sense of the more tactical buys ii customers have made in the last month.

Top 10 most-popular investment trusts in June

Source: FE. The top 10 is based on the number of buys in June. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.