Top investments in November: Bestinvest’s DIY investors favour index tracker funds in ‘barnstorming month’

Jason Hollands, Managing Director at Bestinvest, the DIY investing and coaching service, comments:

“November was an absolutely barnstorming month for investors with both government bonds and stock markets rallying hard as investors brushed aside the message from central bankers that interest rates may need to stay ‘higher for longer’. Instead, better-than-expected inflation data has seemingly convinced investors that not only have interest rates now peaked, but rate cuts are also coming next year. 
 
“In local currency terms the US S&P 500 Index delivered an impressive total return of 9.8% over the month (5.5% in GBP terms) and the MSCI World Index surged 10% (5.7% in GBP). Even the deeply unloved UK stock market joined the November party, with the MSCI United Kingdom All Cap Index returning 4%.  
 
“Among the 10 most-popular funds self-selected by Bestinvest clients during November, five were index tracker funds – including two US trackers. Notably, two technology funds were among the best buys – the L&G Global Technology Index Trust and the Fidelity Global Technology Fund – indicating investor appetite for a part of the market that has enjoyed a very strong run this year on the back of excitement about Artificial Intelligence. Once again though, the top spot has been taken by Terry Smith’s eponymous Fundsmith Equity Fund which commands a loyal band of followers.  
 
“When it came to direct share purchases however, it was a roll call of the ‘Old Economy’ with UK banks and insurance stocks trading on incredibly low price/earnings multiples among the top purchases including Lloyds Bank, Barclays, L&G and Phoenix. Barclays has this week seen its largest shareholder, the Qatar Investment Authority, seek to slash its shareholding.  But the most purchased stock of all during November was drinks conglomerate Diageo whose shares took an 11% hit earlier in the month following a profit warning due to ‘materially weaker’ sales in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
 
“We offer fee-free trading in US equities on Bestinvest, but only one US stock made the top 10 this month: electric vehicle pioneer Tesla. The shares have rocketed 119% since the start of the year but are far from a bargain with a meaty valuation of 74 times forecast earnings for 2024.”

Top 10 investments purchased on Bestinvest in November 2023

* The above table excludes three Ready-Made Portfolios which were among the most purchased investments. These are multi-asset fund of funds run by Bestinvest’s parent company Evelyn Partners and are aimed at investors who prefer to have a fully managed portfolio.

The RMPs omitted from the Top 10 are:

Evelyn Growth Portfolio Clean

Evelyn Adventurous Portfolio Clean GBP

Evelyn Maximum Growth Portfolio Clean GBP

Evelyn Smart Maximum Growth Fund S GBP