Barclays Research Shows 'Cautious' Funds' Popularity

Changing trends amongst holders of stocks and shares individual savings accounts (ISAs) have been detected by stockbrokers at Barclays Wealth.

In newly-released analysis, the firm said that "cautious" funds such as those which deal in the money markets were "extremely popular" among investors. This is due in part to the market volatility which is a feature of the ongoing credit crunch.

Elsewhere, specialist funds are also selling from brokers, taking up 17 per cent of total orders for April. In particular, emerging markets funds such as Threadneedle's Latin America product are attracting investors. The strong performance of commodities have also boosted Blackrock's Gold and General Fund and the Natural Resources Fund from JP Morgan.

Chris Stevenson at Barclays commented: "ISA season was dominated by market volatility and there wasn't the usual flurry of fund sales in the approach to tax year end.

"While unsurprisingly the more cautious funds continue to dominate, investors are also looking at specialist sector funds to gain returns from exposure to commodities and emerging markets, which suggests a renewed confidence in the markets."

Barclays also found that 63 per cent of people intend to take up their full ISA allowance this tax year, with 39 per cent investing in funds.