Most bought funds: April 2026

Freetrade’s most-bought funds list for the past month shows how investors used a mixture of diversified long-term funds and money market products as the tax year neared its end. We have distilled this down into three key takeaways.

Just remember that this is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy any of these funds. Instead, it’s simply meant to provide insight into the most popular funds among Freetrade investors.

You can learn more about funds by reading Freetrade’s mutual funds explainer.

Top traded funds methodology: The rankings are based on the total executed value of buy orders placed by Freetrade customers from 1 March to 31 March 2026. The figures reflect buy-side activity only and do not account for sales, holding periods, or individual portfolio weightings.

1. LifeStrategy and equity exposure

The first key point is that many Freetrade investors appear to be sticking to their plans this month. 

That’s because equity exposure remained popular despite market noise stemming from oil price volatility and geopolitical strife. 

Vanguard LifeStrategy funds continue to prove popular among Freetrade users, with recent market volatility not disrupting interest in planning for the long term. These funds sit within Freetrade’s ready-made portfolio range and are designed as long-term investments offering broad diversification and catering to specific risk profiles.

Of the three ready-made portfolios, Freetrade investors are buying Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity Fund, the higher risk and more equity-exposed fund, the most. 

Aside from ready-made portfolios, many investors also sought exposure to a broad basket of global equities through the Artemis Global Income Fund, Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Fund and the HSBC FTSE ALL World Index Fund.

This could indicate that many Freetrade investors feel confident in the long-term outlook for global equities in spite of current uncertainty. However, while buying behaviour may suggest conviction, it may also just reflect habitual, regular investing. 

2. Money Market Funds

Another key facet of the list is the popularity of money market funds among Freetrade investors, with three landing in the top 10. 

This can point to many investors parking cash in something productive and low-risk while they decide how to invest it. Money market funds can offer a halfway house, as they preserve capital, can earn a return, and can be quickly bought and sold.

Perhaps this is particularly relevant in March. It was the final full month of the tax year, so many retail investors have likely sought to maximise annual ISA or pension allowances by contributing to these accounts before the 5 April deadline. 

Still, investors may not yet have had a long-term plan for the money, may not have had time to deal with the admin of investing, or were keeping their options open until they find the right opportunity. 

Being highly liquid and offering some return, money market funds are also a popular way to invest an emergency fund, so it may be the case that investors were buffing up their financial safety nets.

3. European SmartGARP

Perhaps the most notable takeaway from this list is the entrance of the Artemis SmartGARP European Equity Fund. 

While global equity exposure remains a clear priority for many Freetrade users, its inclusion may point to growing interest in more targeted regional opportunities or broader geographic diversification.

But there’s something else to explore here, too. That’s because you might be looking at the fund's name and saying, “What on earth is GARP?” 

GARP stands for ‘growth at a reasonable price’, while “SmartGARP” refers to Artemis’s own software, which it uses to find and screen viable GARP prospects.

These prospects are companies which appear to be growing faster than the market, but have lower valuations. In short, this means using GARP is a strategy built on raw fundamentals.

Perhaps this is a sign that, with markets in a volatile state, some investors are keen to seek out undervalued companies with solid foundational numbers over growth stocks with a sky-high valuation.