October's 10 most-bought funds

The top position in the table of funds most bought by Interactive Investor clients has once again been taken by Fundsmith Equity, one of our sister magazine Money Observer's Rated Funds.

Managed by highly regarded investor Terry Smith, the fund has over half of its assets in US equities. Seven months ago it toppled CF Woodford Equity Income and has remained the most-bought fund ever since.

The top four most-bought funds in October remain unchanged from September. Neil Woodford's eponymous open-ended fund, which launched in June 2014, took second place. The UK equity income fund shed 2.3% over one month to 2 September and gained 3.1% over the last year.

Money Observer Rated Fund Lindsell Train Global Equity ranks third on the list. Jointly managed by Michael Lindsell and Nick Train since its launch in March 2011, the fund returned 20.6% over six months to 2 November.

Passive popularity

In a continuing shift towards cheap passive investments, half of the most-bought funds were trackers in October.

The fourth place in the list was taken by Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity, an index tracker that focuses on North American equities, UK equities and European ex UK equities as well as global bonds.

Artemis Global Income climbed one spot to be the fifth most-bought fund in October. It benefits from a global spread as one third of its holdings are in US equities, about 13% in UK equities and 8% in German equities.

It was closely followed by Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity, which climbed one spot to take sixth place in October's list.

With increasing uncertainty, investors have turned to the relative strength of emerging market fundsMeanwhile, Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity went down by three spots to eighth place on the list, which could indicate that investors are becoming more cautious as they opt for a higher proportion of bonds in their tracker funds.

The seventh spot was taken by Jupiter India, which climbed an impressive seven places. The fund returned 8.4% over the last month and some 138% over the last three years.

With increasing uncertainty in developed markets around the US presidential elections and looming Brexit negotiations, investors have been turning to the relative strength and dynamism of emerging market funds over the last month.

In India specifically, new tax reforms are seen as a positive development for the economy.

The last two places both went to passive investments: ninth place was taken by HSBC FTSE All Share Index, which gained 0.2% over one month. The 10th spot was taken by Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex UK.

This article was originally published by our sister magazine Money Observer here

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. 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.