Despite the Fundsmith Equity fund dropping down the list of most bought funds through Interactive Investor in December, it remained the most popular overall in 2023.
The £22.7bn global equities fund, managed by Terry Smith, came fourth place in the platform's top 10 funds for December, down from second place the month prior.
Top for December was Royal London Short Term Money Market in recent times, which maintained poll position for the third month in a row.
Kyle Caldwell, collectives editor at Interactive Investor, said: "Although Fundsmith Equity has slipped down our fund bestsellers table since it was knocked off the top spot in October, what has not changed is that Fundsmith Equity remains very popular with our customers.
“Smith focuses on high-quality companies, meaning firms with established businesses, reliable profits and steady growth, which should also be able to withstand an economic downturn.”
Caldwell said the rise of Royal London's fund in recent months has been fuelled by rising interest rates and investors becoming more cautious.
Coming top in the investment trust space was Scottish Mortgage in both December and overall in 2023.
It was briefly knocked off the top spot in October 2023, but otherwise has been the most bought trust each month since June 2019.
Caldwell went on to say the biggest investment theme of 2023 was resurgence of technology shares, particularly from US giants including Amazon and Microsoft.
He added: “Time will tell whether this theme has staying power in 2024 and beyond, but many investors are hoping that will be the case, with Polar Capital Technology Trust returning to the top 10 most-bought investment trust table in December, and L&G Global Technology Index fund moving up the rankings on the fund side.”
In equities bought through Interactive Investor, Rolls Royce was the bestseller with Petrofac coming in second.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at the platform, said: “Petrofac came into the cross hairs of bargain hunters in December, becoming the second most bought equity in the month.
"The share price, which has fallen by 54 per cent over the last year, languished despite the company announcing a £1.1bn deal with a Dutch company (the shares had been down by 76 per cent before recovering slightly on the news) following fears over the company’s financial stability and the possible need to sell off assets.
“Elsewhere, Rolls-Royce topped the leaderboard once more, as investors continued to ride the wave of its successful turnaround plan.
"The shares, which jumped by a stellar 210 per cent during 2023, received a warm market welcome having announced the disposal of non-core assets, while shifting towards higher margin and higher growth potential offerings.”
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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