Loomis Sayles £1.1bn US Equity Leaders fund tops Bestinvest December buylist

The £1.1bn Loomis Sayles US Equity Leaders fund was the most-bought strategy among Bestinvest’s retail clients in December.

The fund, managed by Aziz Hamzaogullari, produced double the gains of the S&P 500 last year, returning 43.7% in 2023 due to its heavy weighting towards the ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech stocks.

Vanguard’s FTSE Developed World ex UK Equity Index and LifeStrategy 100% Equity were also among the most bought in December, while Terry Smith’s ever popular Fundsmith Equity fell to fifth after being the most-bought fund in November.

However, Fundsmith Equity was the most bought in Q4 as a whole, ahead of the Loomis Sayles Equity Leaders fund and the £2.2bn Legal & General Global Technology Index.

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Jason Hollands, managing director at Bestinvest, said: “While December is typically a more subdued period for new investing, the sharp rebound in equity markets from November, which continued with a December ‘Santa Rally’ saw signs of an improved risk appetite from Bestinvest clients.

“The 10 most-bought funds on Bestinvest all focused on equities, eight of which had global remits. Two of these were technology funds – the L&G Global Technology Index Trust and Fidelity Global Technology fund – as investors weighed in behind the stellar returns delivered by tech stocks during 2023 as excitement about Artificial Intelligence took hold.”

The only emerging market fund in December’s top 10 was the £985.7m Jupiter India fund. The strategy is a top quartile performer in the IA India sector over one, three and five years, according to FE Fundinfo.

Guinness Sustainable Energy, which launched at the end of December 2022, also made its way onto the list.

In terms of individual stocks, Rolls-Royce was the most bought among retail investors.

Bestinvest’s Hollands added: “It was the FTSE 100’s best performer last year and has seen a slew of analysts upgrade price targets recently as hopes grow that it will soon reinstate a dividend.”  

Top 10 funds and individual stocks purchased on Bestinvest in December 2023