Top 10 best-selling ISA and SIPP funds in January

Personal investors have shifted gear. For the first time in more than two years, no cash funds appear among the top 10 most-bought funds. Instead, SIPP and ISA customers are seeking out precious metals, emerging markets, value stocks and big dividend payers.

Tom’s picks

Last month, Fidelity’s investment director Tom Stevenson published three fund picks for 2026: Dodge & Cox Worldwide - Global Stock, Fidelity Special Situations, and Lazard Emerging Markets. Personal investors were clearly paying attention, as all three were best-sellers in January.

• Read: Tom Stevenson's fund picks for 2026

The funds offer different ways to diversify your portfolio away from Big Tech. Dodge & Cox is a value-oriented fund with a wide range of holdings. Only half the portfolio is invested in the US - well below a neutral weighting - while Europe, the UK and emerging markets are over-represented.

Fidelity Special Situations also hunts for cheap stocks, but it has its eyes squarely on the UK market. Fund manager Alex Wright has years of experience seeking out London-listed companies going through tough times. The portfolio is skewed towards medium- and smaller-sized businesses, but some big names like Aviva and British American Tobacco feature among its top holdings too.

Last up: Lazard. Lazard Emerging Markets mainly invests in Asia and Latin America. It looks for companies that are cheaper than the market but with better fundamental prospects. Emerging markets were among the best performing equity assets last year and the outlook remains positive. Strong earnings growth, a weak US dollar and a rotation out of the US could all boost the fund’s performance this year.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns

Source: Morningstar from 31.12.20 to 31.12.25. Basis bid to bid with income reinvested in GBP. Excludes initial charge.

Korea calling

Interest in emerging markets appears to be accelerating - Barings Korea Trust also proved popular with SIPP investors last month. The fund aims to beat the MSCI Korea Index by picking high quality companies that can grow their earnings.

Korea’s stock market dazzled the world last year by delivering an annual return of almost 80%. Its performance has been driven, in part, by the rise of semiconductors. The country has a key role in the technology revolution, as it manufactures a lot of the physical hardware needed for artificial intelligence. For example, it is home to the world’s two largest chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

Investors are also enthusiastic about the country’s corporate governance reforms. ‘Cross-shareholding’ networks - in which listed companies hold big portfolios of one another’s shares - have been clamped down on, and the interests of minority shareholders have been prioritised. Japan led the charge on this, but South Korea is now following suit.

The question is: can Korea’s rise continue? All eyes will be on the global technology cycle and tariff uncertainties.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns

Source: Morningstar from 31.12.20 to 31.12.25. Basis bid to bid with income reinvested in GBP. Excludes initial charge.

Growth at a reasonable price

The team at Barings Korea Trust focuses on ‘growth at a reasonable price’ - or GARP. In simple terms, GARP funds try to find companies that are growing faster than the market but which are also cheaper than their peers. The strategy has taken off in recent years.

Three GARP funds run by Artemis - Artemis SmartGARP, European Equity Fund, Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity Fund and Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity Fund - were best-sellers in January. All three have had a fantastic couple of years, posting gains well ahead of their respective benchmarks.

• Read: GARP? A deep dive into a best-selling fund

For Artemis, GARP involves running a digital stock screen every day, which incorporates millions of data points. This ‘systematic’ approach is designed to remove behavioural biases. There is also a layer of human oversight, however, with fund managers reviewing the most promising-looking companies.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns

Source: Morningstar from 31.12.20 to 31.12.25. Basis bid to bid with income reinvested in GBP. Excludes initial charge.

Precious metals

Precious metals enticed plenty of investors in January too, with Jupiter Gold and Silver and Ninety One Global Gold both flying off the shelves. It’s easy to see why: the price of gold and silver shot up in 2025 and the rally continued into January 2026.

Geopolitical tension, a weak US dollar and worries about inflation have pushed investors towards these ‘safe havens’.

Ninety One Global Gold invests in mining companies from around the world. The fortunes of gold miners are closely tied to the gold price, but they do not directly track it - they tend to generate more volatile returns. Jupiter Gold and Silver takes a slightly different approach, offering exposure to miners and the metals themselves.

• Read: What is the best way to invest in gold - ETFs or gold miners?

Enthusiasm for precious metals has now kicked into reverse, however, following the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the governor of the Federal Reserve.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns

Source: Morningstar from 31.12.20 to 31.12.25. Basis bid to bid with income reinvested in GBP. Excludes initial charge.

Dividend giants

Precious metals famously don’t pay any income. In the words of Warren Buffett, gold does nothing “except look at you”. It seems that ISA and SIPP investors are still hungry for dividends, however.

The Fidelity Global Dividend Fund and Artemis Global Income Fund are some of the most consistently popular funds on the Fidelity platform.

The former is an actively managed fund that targets companies with healthy yields underpinned by rising income. The portfolio invests across a variety of sectors and geographies, offering a good level of diversification (the US represents less than a quarter of the portfolio). It also aims to deliver less volatility than the wider market.

The Artemis Global Income Fund has a different focus. It is heavily weighted towards the financial sector and has some chunky exposure to emerging markets. Like the Fidelity fund, however, it has limited its US holdings and is looking for generous dividend yields. Free cash flow is its key metric for the fund.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns

Source: Morningstar from 31.12.20 to 31.12.25. Basis bid to bid with income reinvested in GBP. Excludes initial charge.

Best-selling ISA funds in January

1. Lazard Emerging Markets Fund
2. Artemis Global Income Fund
3. Fidelity Special Situations Fund
4. Dodge & Cox Worldwide - Global Stock Fund
5. Artemis SmartGARP European Equity Fund
6. Fidelity Index World Fund
7. Jupiter Gold and Silver Fund
8. Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity Fund
9. Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity Fund
10. Fidelity Global Dividend Fund

Source: Fidelity International. Net ISA sales 1 to 31 January 2026 for Personal Investors only.

• Open a Fidelity Stocks and Shares ISA

Best-selling SIPP funds in January

1. Lazard Emerging Markets Fund
2. Artemis Global Income Fund
3. Fidelity Special Situations Fund
4. Jupiter Gold and Silver Fund
5. Dodge & Cox Worldwide - Global Stock Fund
6. Fidelity Multi Asset Allocator Growth
7. Ninety One Global Gold Fund
8. Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund
9. Barings Korea Trust
10. Artemis SmartGARP European Equity Fund

Source: Fidelity International. Net SIPP sales 1 to 31 January 2026 for Personal Investors only.

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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 a SIPP or ISA and tax treatment depends on personal circumstances and all tax rules may change in the future. Withdrawals from a SIPP will not normally be possible until you reach age 55 (57 from 2028). 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. There is a risk that the issuers of bonds may not be able to repay the money they have borrowed or make interest payments. When interest rates rise, bonds may fall in value. Rising interest rates may cause the value of your investment to fall. 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 Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.