Scottish Mortgage had been the favourite for investment trust investors since June 2019, while Fundsmith Equity had beaten back all other funds every month since March 2021.
However, last month, City of London displaced Scottish Mortgage among investment trusts, and the Royal London Short Term Money Market fund took the crown from Fundsmith Equity. Both usurpers are income-focused strategies.
Kyle Caldwell, collectives editor at interactive investor, said the change was part of a wider trend over the last two years of growth strategies losing out to income strategies in the popularity stakes.
interactive investor: India funds turn investors' heads in September
"The demand for income is intensifying as investors attempt to protect their portfolios against the high levels of inflation. As a result, investors are increasingly turning their attention towards funds and investment trusts offering eye-catching yields," Caldwell said.
The cash-like Royal London Short Term Money Market has become a favourite with investors at the same time as its yield has been increasing, as interest rates have climbed.
The current yield on its diversified basket of low-risk bonds that are due to mature soon is 5.2%, with investors earning an income on their cash with minimal risk.
Income-focused strategies accounted for six out of the top ten best-selling investment trusts throughout the month. The City of London trust, which has been managed by Job Curtis since 1991, is a consistent income payer, having increased dividends every year for 57 years.
Caldwell, said: "The demand for high income is much more prevalent among the most-bought investment trust rankings, with Greencoat UK Wind, BlackRock World Mining, and Merchants Trust offering respective yields of 6.4%, 7.4%, and 5.7%. The latter is one of three new entries in October."
interactive investor puts two Super 60 funds and an investment trust under review
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income, yielding 4%, was also popular, while Gore Street Energy Storage and HICL Infrastructure were the two other new entrants in October. Both invest in alternative assets, which have been weighed on by higher interest rates, and have respective yields of 12.3% and 6.9%.
More broadly across funds, global strategies continued to dominate, accounting for seven of the top ten most bought funds last month on the interactive investor platform. Passive strategies also remained popular. They comprised seven of the ten fund best sellers last month, five of which were from Vanguard.
Banks dominated direct equities bought on the ii platform, with Barclays and Natwest among the new entrants. Both recently announced disappointing outlooks, and suffered severe share price declines during the month, but investors sought to obtain a bargain, said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor.