The number of investors with £1m or more in their stocks and shares individual savings account (ISA) is on the rise, according to Hargreaves Lansdown's (HL.L) platform data, which revealed where they are putting their money.
The UK's biggest investment platform said there were 1,322 "ISA millionaires" on its platform as of the end of December.
The figure was up 14% over the previous six months alone and was much higher when compared to the 168 ISA millionaires on the platform seven years ago, with just three recorded in 2012.
HL found that the average age of an ISA millionaire on its platform was now 72 years old, down from 74 six months ago. However, the gender split of ISA millionaires had not changed from two years ago, with just over two-thirds found to be men.
"Some people get into investment in the hope of getting rich quick, but the vast majority of ISA millionaires have built a fortune through the far more reliable approach of getting rich slow," said Kate Marshall, lead investment analyst at HL.
"They don’t necessarily take enormous risks: many consistently invest as much as possible of their annual allowance, in a diverse and balanced portfolio, every year, for decades."
Marshall pointed out that the top 10 stocks bought by this group were dominated by UK-listed blue-chip companies, including those that have traditionally paid strong dividends.
"It means most of them aren’t speculating," she said. "They’re not in a hurry to trade them regularly either as, while most ISA millionaires traded in 2024, this has tended to be infrequent."
As for the most bought funds, Marshall said ISA millionaires were investing in a broad international mix of popular funds. Half of these funds were focused on a diversified mix of global companies, though there were also a couple of UK funds on the list, including an income fund.
"This reflects that as investors get older, some of the portfolio may have been reconfigured for income," she said.
"When you have a larger portfolio, you have more scope to add specialist funds into the mix, which is why we see a technology and India fund in the list of popular investments. Investors with a larger portfolio may be willing to take more risks, partly as they may have more scope for loss, or have sufficient stores of value elsewhere, such as cash ISAs, savings accounts, or annuities."
Here's more detail on which were the most popular stocks and funds with HL's ISA millionaires.
Financial services company Legal & General Group was one name on the list, despite its shares trading nearly 8% in the red on a one-year basis.
In December, the firm said it was planning to return capital to investors and was on track to meet financial targets. L&G said it was on track to deliver mid-single digital growth in operating profit for the 2024 fiscal year, in line with guidance
Operating profit in its half-year results came in at £920m ($1.14bn), slightly below the £924m it delivered in the first half of 2023. Profit after tax attributable to shareholders was down 41% to £223m.
However, L&G raised its half-year dividend by 5% to 6p per share. The company's full-year results are due out on 12 March.
Another big name on the list was BP, though shares in the oil major are down nearly 10% on a one-year basis.
In October, BP posted its weakest quarterly profit in nearly four years. The oil major reported a nearly 30% slump in underlying replacement cost profit to $2.3bn (£1.85bn) in the third quarter. Underlying replacement cost profit is the metric BP uses as its version of net income.
BP attributed the fall in net income in the third quarter to factors such as weaker realised refining margins and a poor oil trading result.
Despite worse quarterly results, BP announced a share buyback of $1.75bn as part of its commitment to announce $3.5bn in purchases in the second half of the year. BP also declared a dividend of $0.08 per share, though that is still much lower than its peak payout of $0.105.
Oil prices have been under pressure over concerns about weaker demand and geopolitical tensions, which has pushed brent crude (BZ=F) back below $78 per barrel.
BP's fourth quarter results and its latest dividend announcement are due out on 11 February.
Miner Rio Tinto also made HL's list of the most-bought stocks by ISA millionaires. While the stock is down nearly 12% over the past year, it recently ticked up slightly on reports that it had been in talks with Glencore (GLEN.L) about a potential merger, though discussions were said to no longer be active.
In its recently released fourth quarter production results, Rio Tinto said its mined copper production was up 13% in 2024 on the previous year.
CEO Jakob Stausholm said in an interview with the Financial Times last week that US president Donald Trump will give the green light to the company's copper mine in Arizona.
"I do think that we have really good chances now to progress that project," he said. It comes after a long battle over permits for the mine.
The Resolution mine would be the biggest copper mine in North America once completed, capable of producing as much as 25% of US copper demand each year.
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ISA millionaire top funds
Five Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) index funds were among those most bought by HL's ISA millionaires.
This included the Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust (0P000023MW.L), which tracks the performance of the FTSE World – Technology index.
The £3.8bn fund is up nearly 38% over the past year, with its top holdings including iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) and chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA).
Another popular fund with ISA millionaires was Jupiter India (0P0000U20R.L), which has delivered a return of 24% over one year. This return was ahead of its target benchmark of the 13% return from the MSCI India index with net dividends re-invested.
The biggest sectors the fund is allocated to are financials and healthcare. Its biggest holdings include tobacco manufacturer Godfrey Phillips India (GODFRYPHLP.NS) and private hospital network Fortis Healthcare (FORTIS.NS).
Artemis Income (0P0000KKC3.L), which invests in UK companies, was also named on HL's list. The fund has produced a return of 15% over one year, beating the FTSE All-Share's (0P00000CNT.L) 9.5%.
Financials also make up the biggest share of sector exposure in this fund, followed by consumer discretionary and staples firms.
Top holdings include Pearson (PSON.L), which provides educational materials and technology, along with private equity investment trust 3i Group (III.L).
