The CF Woodford Equity Income fund continues to be hugely popular among The Share Centre’s investors, ranking first place in a list of the top 10 purchased funds based on the number of deals completed between 6 April and 5 May 2016.

Funds with exposure to global economies have proven popular in the current climate. Here are the top 10:

• CF Woodford Equity Income 
• Fundsmith Equity 
• Legg Mason Japan Equity 
• Newton Global Income 
• Rathbone Global Opportunities 
• Marlborough UK Micro-Cap 
• Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders 
• AXA Framlington Biotech 
• Rathbone Income 
• CF Miton UK Value Opportunities 

Andy Parsons, head of investment research at The Share Centre, which has over 250,000 customers, said investors continue to want to benefit from the expertise and knowledge of one of the industry’s most highly respected fund managers.

He said: “The CF Woodford Equity Income fund offers a portfolio which comprises not only a core nucleus of blue chip companies, but a number of exciting young vibrant businesses just starting out.”

In second position is the Fundsmith Equity fund which invests in equities on a global basis and is managed by the highly acclaimed founder of the business, Terry Smith. With the number of holdings generally being between 20-30 stocks, “the underlying portfolio clearly demonstrates the manager’s conviction in the highly concentrated portfolio of global names in which he invests,” Parsons said.

In third place is the Legg Mason Japan Equity fund. Parsons said: “The fund currently aims to play the internal consumer based around three key themes, notably the continuing rapid emergence of the internet as a sales channel, ageing population and the medical and long-term care industries.”

The Newton Global Income fund has long been respected for their income-producing funds and this fund represents an alternative global approach for investors seeking income, Parsons said.

Turning his attention to the lower of the top 10, Parsons said the Axa Framlington Biotech fund provides investors with a long term investment theme and despite pressure within the sector, The Share Centre still believes this is an “exciting area to have exposure to”.

Parsons said the CF Miton UK Value Opportunities fund is one it believes has “truly adopted a deep value investment strategy” as it has sought to identify UK companies the management believe are trading at a significant discount to their true value. Parsons added the fund has been in the news recently following the announcement that George Godber and Georgina Hamilton will be leaving.