Investors favouring emerging markets and gold

Retail investors are looking to emerging markets, especially Asia Pacific, China and India for growth and gold for stability, research suggests.

Data from TD Waterhouse, one of the UK's leading execution only brokers, indicates that investors in both its ISA and SIPP products have chosen a similar mix of emerging market funds, with Blackrock Gold & General and Aberdeen Emerging Markets the most popular choices among its customers in both product categories.

The top ten most popular fund holdings in a TD Waterhouse ISA or SIPP show that gold remains a popular choice among TD customers. With gold closing last year's trading at or around all time highs in all major currencies, rising 29.8% against the dollar (gold's second best annual gain against the greenback in the past decade) Blackrock's Gold and General Account maintains its position as the most popular ISA fund holding for the third year in a row.

Asia Pacific, China and India are also popular amongst ISA and SIPP holders, while customers holding a TD SIPP also favour Russia as emerging markets give the potential for strong growth with their burgeoning young populations and increasing global spending power.  However, JP Morgan Natural Resources and Fidelity Special Situations maintain a place in both tables as TD customers look to diversify their portfolios across a range of sectors with an emphasis on long term returns.

‘Emerging markets dominate TD Waterhouse customers' fund holdings this year in both our ISA and SIPP products as our investors look for long term growth in their portfolios. Gold remains in the top spot in both tables, and for a third year in a row amongst our ISA customers,’ said Darren Hepworth, trading and customer services director, TD Waterhouse.

‘Our investors appear to be seeking some solidity in light of the continued Eurozone sovereign debt crisis and concerns over possible future inflation,’ he added.

The customer data also concurs with the recent results of the sixth annual TD Waterhouse Investor Confidence Index, an independent survey to gauge retail investor confidence in the UK, which found that a quarter of UK investors surveyed expected the Asian stock market to perform best and a further 20% thought gold and precious metals would be top performers in 2011.

The findings confirms trading trends among our customers with over a quarter of respondents, 26%, most likely to invest their tailored SIPP in international equities and three in ten investors, 30%, having bought or sold shares in a company listed outside the UK in the last 12 months,’ said Hepworth.

TD Waterhouse offers a wide range of investment choices to help investors diversify their portfolios. TD Waterhouse customers can hold unit trusts, shares, investment trusts, gilts, bonds, REITs or ETFs and depending on risk appetite, can choose from funds which invest in emerging markets or commodities, high income or sovereign bonds, amongst others.