Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown has revealed that the number of investors paying into their Stocks and Shares ISA in the first 10 days of the tax year has increased by 10%.
It also said there had been an almost 31% rise in early bird savers maxing out their annual ISA allowance!
Emma Wall, head of investment analysis and research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Investor confidence is clearly alive and kicking – and while the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, early bird stats show investors are prioritising making their savings as tax efficient as possible.”
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The firm classes early bird clients as those who invest in the first 10 days of the tax year, up to and including 15 April.
The top 10 investments
Here’s what these ISA investors have been buying:
| 1 | Legal & General US Index |
| 2 | Legal & General Group |
| 3 | Jupiter India |
| 4 | Fundsmith Equity |
| 5 | Fidelity Index World |
| 6 | Legal & General International Index Trust |
| 7 | Rathbone Global Opportunities |
| 8 | Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust |
| 9 | Aviva |
| 10 | Lloyds Banking Group |
The four key investing themes here are global funds, India, technology, and financial stocks.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a spare £20k knocking about to immediately max out my allowance. I say ‘unfortunate’, but I actually prefer to spread my investments across the year.
This way, I don’t have to worry about the market tanking straight after I invest my £20k. I can take advantage of opportunities in my ISA as and when they arise.
India on my mind
Looking at that quartet of investing themes, which interests me the most?
Well, I already hold a load of US tech stocks. And I’ve been adding HSBC shares to my ISA to sit alongside Lloyds and Bank of Georgia.
I’ve also been buying Aviva and Legal & General shares for the high-yield dividends. So I have tonnes of exposure to the financial sector.
However, India does interest me. Its economy grew 6.5% in 2022 then another 7.7% last year. That was the highest annual growth rate among G20 countries, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Over the next three years, India is tipped to become the third-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of $5trn. So it doesn’t surprise me that savvy investors are allocating to India. I’d like to do the same.
My pick
I’ll have to dig into the Jupiter India fund to see what I’m missing. But my preferred strategy is to get broad-based Asia exposure.
One stock I hold is Pacific Horizon Investment Trust (LSE: PHI). This FTSE 250 fund aims to achieve capital growth by investing across the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) and the Indian subcontinent.
As of 31 March, Pacific Horizon had nearly 28% of total assets in India. So there is a fair bit of exposure here, but then also China (22.1%) and Korea (9.4%) too. I like this diversification.
Top holdings include Samsung Electronics, TSMC, and Indian logistics firm Delhivery.
One risk here is the potential for wild swings in regional currencies. This could impact the value of the trust’s assets.
However, it has easily outperformed its benchmark (the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index) over the long term. As of 31 March, it had returned 256.8% over 10 years versus the index’s 104.8%.
Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future returns, but this stellar record gives me great faith in the managers. I plan to increase my India exposure through buying more Pacific Horizon shares.
