AJ Bell Favourite funds

Funds can make investing easier. No picking individual stocks and shares, no spending hours researching individual companies. But there are thousands of funds to choose from – spread across multiple sectors, regions, asset classes, and investment strategies. How do you begin to know which to choose?

That’s where the AJ Bell Favourite funds list comes in. We’ve surveyed the markets and picked out the funds we think are likeliest to provide your portfolio with an income, or with medium- to long-term growth. The list is chosen by our experts, is regularly updated, and features only funds that offer a combination of the following:

• Low-cost and great value
• Proven track record compared to benchmark and peers
• Quality fund management team

With the help of our handy filter tool, you can find the right fund to meet your criteria – whether that’s fund type, fund sector, or investment goal. But before you go ahead and invest, make sure you do your own research too. That includes reading factsheets, analysts’ ratings and reports, as well as Key Information Documents (KIDs and KIIDs).

The AJ Bell Favourite funds list is designed to help you choose your investments, but isn’t a personal recommendation. You may own funds not included on the list – this doesn’t mean we recommend that you sell them. If you’re not confident about making your own financial decisions, or are looking for advice, you should speak to a suitably qualified financial adviser. To view our full range of funds, please use our Fund screener tool.

• How do you choose funds for the AJ Bell Favourite funds list?

  How funds are chosen

  The Favourite funds list includes both active funds (where a fund manager is paid to choose investments that outperform a benchmark) and tracker funds (which simply track an index or benchmark). To understand more about different types of funds, read our investing in funds page.

  When choosing the active funds on the list, we considered:

  • The fund manager, their team and the wider organisation
  • The investment philosophy underpinning the investment process
  • The fund’s objective and suitability to meet the fund’s strategy
  • The way the fund portfolio is constructed and whether it’s suitably diversified
  • The performance of the fund and its ability to meet its objectives
  • The cost of the fund and the value added by the fund manager

  When choosing the tracker funds on the list, we researched the following:

  • The fund manager and their ability to successfully track the chosen index
  • The investment approach to index replication – we've only selected funds which physically replicate the index they track
  • The cost of the fund or ETF
  • The size of the fund and whether it's large enough to ensure liquidity