- Global equity investments were most popular
- Gold and Silver also make an appearance in the top 10 ETFs
- Space is a potential theme amongst investment trust buyers
Hal Cook, senior investment analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“While investors may have been more conservative in March due to the Iranian conflict, looking back at Q1 as a whole shows investors were definitely in risk-on mode in January and February.
For Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) investors choosing long or very long-term investments, it’s typical to see global equity at the top of the most bought lists. Q1 2026 was no different, with these options topping the most bought funds, ETFs and investment trust lists.
Passive funds continued to dominate over their active peers, with Artemis Global Income the only active fund in the top 10 for the quarter. Performance for the Artemis fund has been extremely strong over the last couple of years, so it’s no surprise to see that this fund has continued to be a popular pick.
When it comes to ETFs, while the US and Global stock market trackers were the most popular, three of the top 10 invest in gold and silver. Gold is often used as a diversifier within an investment portfolio and Silver has seen a rise in popularity too. It’s hard to know how much of the recent buying is linked to strong performance of both metals in 2025 or to diversification.
The investment trust list is more varied but continues the risk-on theme, with Scottish Mortgage leading the list. The trust had c. 35% invested in private equity at the end of 2024, an area that many investors have avoided in recent years. There has been a lot of positive news relating to SpaceX, the largest private equity investment in the trust and likely to be a driver of demand. Perhaps this also explains the inclusion of the Seraphim Space Investment Trust. Although it doesn’t invest in SpaceX, as a specialist trust investing in SpaceTech companies, it seems to appeal to investors looking to get access to a broader set of investments in the space.”
| Most bought funds, Q1 (HL SIPP Clients, net buys) |
| Artemis Global Income |
| Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index |
| Legal & General International Index Trust |
| Fidelity Index World |
| UBS S&P 500 Index |
| Legal & General US Index |
| Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity |
| HSBC FTSE All World Index |
| Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust |
| Legal & General European Index |
| *HL funds excluded |
| Most bought ETFs, Q1 (HL SIPP Clients, net buys) |
| Vanguard Funds plc S&P 500 UCITS ETF USD ACC (GBP) |
| Vanguard Funds plc FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating |
| iShares Physical Metals plc Physical Gold ETC |
| Vanguard Funds plc S&P 500 UCITS ETF USD(GBP) |
| Invesco Markets II Plc FTSE All-World UCITS ETF USD Accumulation |
| iShares Physical Metals plc Physical Silver ETC |
| Global X ETFs Silver Miners UCITS ETF USD Acc (GBP) |
| Vanguard Funds plc FTSE All World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF |
| Vanguard Funds plc FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Distributing – GBP |
| Vanguard Funds Plc FTSE 100 UCITS ETF GBP ACC |
| Most bought investment trusts, Q1 (HL SIPP Clients, net buys) |
| Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc Ordinary Shares 5p |
| City Of London Investment Trust Ordinary 25p Shares |
| Greencoat UK Wind plc Ordinary 1p |
| F&C Investment Trust plc Ordinary 25p |
| Alliance Witan plc Ordinary 2.5p Shares |
| Polar Capital Technology Trust plc ORD GBP0.025 |
| Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc ORD GBP0.01 |
| Henderson Far East Income Ltd Ordinary NPV |
| Temple Bar Investment Trust plc ORD GBP0.05 |
| Fidelity Special Values plc Ordinary 5p |
