How to invest like a millionaire

Anyone who has built a million-pound savings pot is doing something right.

ISA contributions are capped at £20,000 a year - and they used to be lower - so the most you could have added to your account is £346,500. Growing this into £1m is no mean feat.

How exactly have our ISA millionaires done it? Well, consistent contributions and compounding have done a lot of the heavy lifting. Choosing the right investments is also key to success, however. As such, we have tracked down the 10 favourite funds and stocks of ISA millionaires.

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What do they tell us?

Top 10 funds for ISA millionaires

1. Fidelity Global Special Situations Fund
2. Fidelity Special Situations Fund
3. Legal & General UK Index Trust
4. Fidelity European Fund
5. Fidelity Index World Fund
6. Fidelity Index UK Fund
7. Legal & General US Index Trust
8. Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust
9. Fidelity Index US Fund
10. Fidelity Global Dividend Fund

Source: Fidelity International. Based on total asset values for Fidelity Personal Investors holding at least £1m in their portfolio in 2026.

Top 10 stocks for ISA millionaires

1. Rolls Royce
2. Shell
3. Nvidia
4. HSBC
5. Alphabet
6. Palantir
7. Amazon
8. Advanced Micro Devices
9. Rubrik
10. Apple

Source: Fidelity International. Based on total asset values for Fidelity Personal Investors holding at least £1m in their portfolio in 2026.

Back undervalued companies

Two actively managed funds have topped the charts for the past five years: Fidelity Global Special Situations and Fidelity Special Situations.

‘Special situation’ investors hunt for stocks that look unduly cheap because of one-off events - for example, a merger or legal action.

Fidelity Global Special Situations invests in companies across the developed world, including the UK, US, Europe and Japan. Given the value focus, you might be surprised to discover it contains Big Tech names including Alphabet, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Overall, however, the fund is less exposed to the IT sector than the wider market and significantly underweights chip heavyweight Nvidia. In contrast, there is an overrepresentation of consumer discretionary stocks and financials.

The fund is at the riskier end of the spectrum, meaning it is best suited to investors with a 10-year time horizon or more. £1,000 invested in the fund a decade ago would have been worth £3,398 at the end of February. As ever, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

Fidelity Special Situations also has a value focus, but it is not global. Instead, it tries to find British bargains. Among its top holdings are Standard Chartered and Lloyds, as well as some lesser known ones such as Irish housebuilder Cairn Homes.

From a sector perspective, veteran fund managers Alex Wright and Jonathan Winton favour financials, industrials and consumer discretionary stocks. £1,000 invested a decade ago would have been worth £2,660 at the end of February.

Don’t ignore the UK

ISA millionaires favour other UK funds too.

Legal & General UK Index Trust and Fidelity Index UK - which both track the FTSE All Share - are portfolio staples. Because they are passive, they are enticingly cheap with ongoing charges of 0.1% and 0.06% respectively. Actively managed funds often charge between 0.5% and 1%.

The home bias is perhaps a little surprising. The US stock market, and its technology superstars, have hogged the limelight for many years. This hasn’t deterred ISA millionaires, however, who have tended to invest across a diverse range of regions. Many also hold individual UK stocks such as Rolls Royce, Shell and HSBC.

Europe is also an important market for these customers, with the Fidelity European Fund featuring among their top picks year after year. The fund tries to find attractively valued companies with good long-term structural growth prospects. Top holdings include names like Nestlé, L’Oréal and Dutch IT group ASML Holding.

Pay attention to dividends

A key part of Europe’s appeal is its dividends. The UK, for instance, boasts a yield of 3%, compared with the global market’s 2%. Please note this yield is not guaranteed. Over time, reinvesting this income can turbocharge your returns.

• Read: The importance of re-investing dividends

The Fidelity Global Dividend Fund plays into this theme. The actively managed fund tries to deliver at least 25% more income than the global market while keeping volatility low. It can play a reassuring role in a portfolio, therefore, and is judged lower risk than a basic world tracker.

Its portfolio is skewed towards the UK and Europe, with names like Unilever, National Grid and Swiss healthcare group Roche in the top 10.

Embrace US growth

That’s not to say that ISA millionaires have shunned the US. Far from it. American tracker funds such as Legal & General US Index Trust and Fidelity Index US are extremely popular - and have delivered fantastic returns in recent years.

Lots of ISA millionaires also hold the Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust, a passive vehicle that tracks the FTSE World Technology Index. Over 80% of the fund is invested in the US and the portfolio is very concentrated: over 70% of the fund is invested in just 10 companies.

Fidelity Index World, which has about 70% of its portfolio in the US, is another top holding, and individual companies like Nvidia, Alphabet, Palantir and Rubrik feature prominently too.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns

Source: Morningstar from 28.2.21 to 28.2.26. Basis bid to bid with income reinvested in GBP. Excludes initial charge

If you’ve got a burning question you want to ask, why not drop us a line? Ask us your question.

• Read: Funds ideas to de-risk your portfolio
• Read: The 20 ‘dividend heroes’ driving decades of growth
• Read: Which global index fund is best for you?

Important information - investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. Before investing into a fund, please read the relevant key information document which contains important information about the fund. Eligibility to invest in an ISA and tax treatment depends on personal circumstances and all tax rules may change in the future. Overseas investments will be affected by movements in currency exchange rates. Investments in emerging markets can be more volatile than other more developed markets. Reference to specific securities should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell these securities and is included for the purposes of illustration only. Direct shareholdings should generally form part of a well diversified portfolio of other investments. This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of financial adviser or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.