SOME of the most popular investment funds over the last year could’ve netted you huge returns of up to 38%.
The Sun has looked at the top 10 most popular funds on the AJ Bell, Vanguard and Moneybox investment platforms in the last year to see which performed the best.
The top performer out of these was the WisdomTree Artificial Intelligence UCITS ETF, which had a huge return of 38.14% between last April and now.
In comparison, a top-paying cash savings account would’ve given you an interest rate of 5%.
If you’d put just £50 a month into this fund over the last 12 months, you’d have made a £145 profit – far more than the £16 you would’ve earned putting it in cash savings.
Of course, how an investment has performed historically doesn’t guarantee how it will perform in the future.
So while it’s useful information to look at how funds have performed so far, you shouldn’t expect to make the same gains.
Investment funds essentially spread your money across multiple companies, meaning your risk is lower as you’re not relying on the performance of just one.
They’re hugely popular with beginner investors as you don’t need to keep an eye on the stock market constantly or have too much knowledge.
Each fund has a specific focus – for example, the S&P 500 invests in the top US companies, while the FTSE 100 includes the top UK businesses.
The best way to invest is through a Stocks and Shares ISA as any returns you make will be tax free, although the maximum you can put into ISA accounts each year is £20,000.
After that, you would need to open a general investment account (GIA) and you can get taxed on your returns.
These are the most popular funds across each platform over the last year and how they performed…
Some other clear winners are the L&G Global Technology Index Trust, which had a huge 31% return between last April and now.
If you’d put just £50 a month into this fund over the last 12 months, you’d have made a £108 profit.
There’s also the iShares Physical Gold ETC, which had a return of roughly 26%.
This fund buys and stores 24-carat gold bars and its success reflects how gold prices have surged over the last year.
Although it had a lower overall return than the L&G Global Technology Index, you would’ve actually made a higher profit of £114 if you’d invested £50 a month over the last year.
That’s simply because of market timing – if you’d started investing in April last year, you would’ve bought the fund when it was at a low price and before it surged early this year.
Investing: know the risks
INVESTING is a risky business.
It’s not a guaranteed way to make money. You cash can always go up as well as down.
Make sure you know the risks and can afford to lose the money.
Before investing you should check the Financial Conduct Authority’s register and check its list of firms to avoid.
The Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF also had an impressive return of around 22%.
It’s a “basket” of the 500 largest companies in the US, including names like Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon.
The S&P 500 is always popular with investors because it’s cheap to start investing in and often hard to beat.
If you’d invested £50 a month since last April, you would’ve made a profit of £61.
It’s worth noting the fund was up much higher at the end of 2025, but the market dip that happened after the Iran war started would’ve eaten into your profits.
Still, even with that dip you would have ended the year significantly better off than if you’d kept your cash in a bank – by £45, to be exact.
What could you consider investing in now?
When it comes to picking your investments, not even the experts can know for sure what will do well in the future.
A company’s share price can be impacted by anything from global events to what’s happening in its sector to what’s happening within the company itself.
It’s also hard to time when to invest and sell, known as “timing the market”.
The key is to aim to invest for at least five to 10 years so you can ride out any bumps in the market.
James Norton, head of retirement & investments at Vanguard, said: “No one can see around corners, so we advocate for investors not to simply put their money into the latest flavour of the month, or a fund which has performed well over the last 12 months.
“Focus on three key principles: set a clear goal (e.g. a house deposit or retirement), select a balanced portfolio of investments to match the level of risk you are comfortable with, and hold it for the long-term at a low-cost.”
Some investment platforms offer ready-made funds that can be tailored to the level of risk you’re willing to take.
Brian Byrnes, director of personal finance at Moneybox, said beginner investors should consider a ready-made fund as this can spread risk and make investing feel more straightforward.
“For example, a portfolio like the Moneybox Adventurous Starting Option gives investors broad exposure across global equities, property and bonds, which can help balance long-term growth potential with diversification,” he said.
He also said the Fidelity Index World fund is a popular choice as it has low fees and exposes investors to growth opportunities worldwide.
