Hargreaves Lansdown reveals most popular funds this year

The list shows a continued fondness for actively managed funds, with just two passive investment products making the top ten.

The eight active funds on the list are largely run by high profile and long established fund managers.

They include the £16bn Fundsmith Equity fund, and both of the funds run by Nick Train, the Lindsell Train Global Equity fund and the Lindsell Train UK Equity fund. Giles Hargreaves’s Marlborough UK MicroCap Growth fund also made the top ten.

Among the less well known funds to make the list was the £412m First State Asia Focus fund. This has returned 72 per cent in the three years since launch, compared with 65 per cent for the sector average in the same time period.

The £1.4bn Standard Life Global Smaller Companies fund, managed by Alan Rowsell, was another fund to make the top ten.

The two passives emerging among the top ten were the Legal and General International Index fund and the Legal and General US Index fund.

Tom Sparke, investment manager at discretionary fund management house GDIM, said he does not invest in funds run by Mr Train or Mr Smith as he tends to shun funds that deploy a very pronounced investment style.

But he said he was keen on the £1.9bn Baillie Gifford American fund, which also made the top ten.

This fund is the top performer in the IA North American Equities sector over the past one, three and five years.

Mr Sparke said: "It is long-term focused and does not over-react to market noise, especially with the more controversial holdings such as Tesla and Facebook.

"The fund has an excellent track record of finding high growth companies and holding them over long periods. It is a very useful fund to gain exposure to a pure growth theme."

He added: "It is also very well priced, which is a common characteristic of Baillie Gifford’s fund range.”

The top ten most bought funds by Hargreaves clients, in alphabetical order, were: 

david.thorpe@ft.com