interactive investor’s most-bought investments December 2025: UK stocks prove popular with investors as FTSE 100 ends the year on a high

Diageo joins the most-bought stocks list in December, shooting straight to the top spot iShares Physical Silver ETC topped the list of most-bought passive funds in December, shooting up from seventh place in November Four of the most-bought active funds are money market funds, down from five last month interactive investor (ii), the UK’s second largest platform for private investors, reveals its most-bought equities, funds, and investment trusts in December 2025.

When it comes to active funds, money market funds remain popular with ii customers, with four featuring on December’s list – down from five last month. Royal London Short Term Money Market leads at number one once again, and Fidelity Cash, Vanguard Sterling Short Term Money Market and L&G Cash Trust also feature.

iShares Physical Silver ETC topped the list of most-bought passive funds in December, movng up from seventh place in November. A new entrant, GlobalX Silver Miners UCITS ETF, entered the list for the first time in eighth place.

After topping the most-bought investment trusts list in November, 3i Group has been dethroned by the ever-popular Scottish Mortgage, moving 3i Group to fourth place. New entrants include Seraphim Space and BlackRock World Mining, coming in at sixth and seventh place respectively.

Diageo joins the most-bought stocks list in December, shooting straight to the top spot. This follows the appointment of Sir Dave Lewis as CEO, who stepped into his new role this month.

BP also re-entered the list in December, taking second place. Marks & Spencer also joined the list after not featuring for a number of months – entering at eighth place.

In terms of US stocks, the likes of Meta and Tesla dropped off after featuring in November. While Nvidia stayed on the list, it dropped from first place in November to seventh place in December.

Below, interactive investor’s experts explore December 2025’s most bought data in more depth.

Most-bought funds and investment trusts

Commenting on the most-bought funds and investment trusts on interactive investor in December, Alex Watts, Senior Investment Analyst at interactive investor, says: “December rounded out a broadly positive year for equities. The exceptionalism of the US equity market saw some challenge this year as other developed markets (UK, Europe, Japan) outperformed. The still appreciable, positive return of just over 17% in USD terms for the S&P 500 was diminished to around 10% when converted back to sterling for UK investors as the dollar weakened, while notably, UK equities finished the year strongly, putting the total return of the FTSE 100 at just under 26% in 2025.

“Fixed income performance continued to be mixed in December as, while UK and US central banks eased in the month – continuing the downward trend in short-term yields – long-dated yields continued to see some upward pressure as investors ponder stickiness of inflation and fiscal challenges. The upward pressure on precious metal prices did not abate in December, but continued as gold and silver (and other precious metals) hit new all-time highs.”

Equities

“Given a shift in performance dynamic amid global regions, it’s no surprise in December to see continued interest in active funds investing outside the US (UK and Europe) and global equity funds where the US holds lesser prominence in portfolios. A weakening in relative returns of US equities was met with diversification as investors bought up actively managed strategies investing in the home UK market (Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity, City of London, TempleBar). Furthermore, as the gap between returns of global growth and value narrowed in 2025, and concerns spread regarding concentration in global indices across a handful of growth stocks, we see continued interest in value-biased approaches to global equities – Artemis Global Income and Ranmore Global Equity – both of which delivered recent impressive above benchmark returns.”

Fixed Income

“Short-term yields in the UK continued to decline as the Bank of England enacted a fourth and final rate cut of 2025 from 4% down to 3.75% as some progress in disinflation became apparent in the November figures. In spite of the decline in yields at the short end of the curve, the popularity of sterling money market funds (RL Short-term MM, Fidelity Cash, Vanguard S/T Sterling MM, L&G Cash Trust) with investors remained through December.”

Alternatives/Commodities

“A key theme of performance across asset classes in 2025 and continuing through December is the strong performance of precious metals. In the final quarter of 2025 and in December particularly, silver prices rose rapidly. Notwithstanding some bouts of sharp volatility, the march up in prices of gold and silver has been met with huge investor demand for direct exposure to the metals (iShares Physical Silver, iShares Physical Gold), as well as passive and active exposure to the equities of the miners (or both): GlobalX Silver Miners, BlackRock World Miners, Jupiter Gold & Silver.”

Most-bought stocks

Commenting on the most bought stocks on interactive investor in December, Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment says: “UK dividend payers like Legal & General and Taylor Wimpey continued to be popular stocks among ii investors in December alongside FTSE 100 heavyweights like Rolls Royce and Lloyds which both enjoyed very strong share price gains last year.

“Another UK stock, drinks giant Diageo was a new addition to the list last month, making quite an entrance by gaining the crown as the most bought stock on the ii platform last month. Investors are clearly very excited by the appointment of former Tesco boss, Sir Dave Lewis as CEO from the start of 2026 after Debra Crew stepped down in July. After a profit warning and a weak share price performance, investors are hoping that he is the man to spearhead a much-needed turnaround at the company behind Guiness, Tanqueray and Johnnie Walker. Marks and Spencer became another new addition to the list in December. After a cyber-attack punished its profits and share price, some investors clearly see a value opportunity with upside potential for M&S shares, particularly if it transpires that the company enjoyed strong sales over the all-important festive season.

“While US tech continues to be popular among ii customers with Nvidia maintaining its position on the list of most bought stocks in December, investors are clearly being more discerning given the well documented concerns about an AI bubble. As a consequence, Meta and Tesla dropped off the list in December while Nvidia lost the top spot, dropping a few places lower. Tesla is dealing with a series of challenges – deliveries fell by more than expected in the fourth quarter and BYD also recently overtook Tesla to become the world’s top EV seller.”

MOST BOUGHT INVESTMENTS ON INTERACTIVE INVESTOR (ii) IN DECEMBER 2025