Funds investing in emerging markets, value stocks and commodities have been getting more heavily researched by investors in 2026, analysis of Trustnet users’ research activity shows.
Markets have been hit by a series of shocks this year, starting with a sell-off in US software stocks from late January as investors worried that AI tools could upend the sector. This was followed by conflict between the US, Israel and Iran from late February, with disruption in the Strait of Hormuz pushing the Brent crude oil price up and keeping it elevated throughout the year.
The resulting energy shock also reversed expectations for interest rate cuts, with the US Federal Reserve raising rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4% in September, its first increase since 2023, while the Bank of England held the base rate at 3.75% but warned that a hike was becoming increasingly likely.
Below, we highlight how fund research trends changed between 2025 and the first three quarters of 2026 as investors reacted to ever-shifting market conditions.
Change in Investment Association sector research between 2025 and 2026 YTD
Source: Trustnet, Google Analytics. Data as at 30 Sep 2026
On a sector level, one of the biggest changes in 2026 has been a fall in research in developed market sectors such as IA UK All Companies, IA North America and IA Europe Excluding UK, and towards those investing in emerging markets and Asia. As part of this, research into IA Global funds – which tend to focus on developed markets – has also dropped since last year.
Emerging market stocks have generated strong returns for the past couple of years, bouncing back from an extended period of lagging behind developed markets. The MSCI Emerging Markets index made a 55.4% total return between 1 January 2025 and 30 September 2026 (in sterling), compared with 24.5% from the S&P 500 and 27.6% from the MSCI World developed markets index.
A large part of this outperformance comes from the fact that many of the world’s leading semiconductor and memory chip companies are based in Asia, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Asian chipmakers therefore offer direct exposure to the AI hardware boom outside US mega-caps.
The most-researched emerging markets and Asian equity funds in 2026 so far have been Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity, Jupiter Asian Income, Lazard Emerging Markets, M&G Asian, Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders and Man Japan Core Alpha.
The IA Unclassified sector benefited from the second-biggest increase in research, although this is largely down to the SJP Polaris range. The range has become the largest multi-asset fund range in the UK with around £117bn in the four core funds, overtaking the once-dominant Vanguard’s LifeStrategy offering.
Its size reflects St James’s Place’s adviser-led model more than open-market demand, since existing SJP clients account for most of the money in the range and the funds are not available on investment platforms.
SJP Polaris 3 UT is now the 11th most-researched fund on Trustnet, up from 60th in 2025, while SJP Polaris 2 UT has gone from 598th place to 39th.
Meanwhile, research into IA Commodity/Natural Resources nearly doubled, going from 0.54% of the Investment Association universe in 2025 to 0.96% this year. Commodity prices have been rising for several years, with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine driving up the price of oil and agricultural goods, while gold rocketed to record highs at the start of 2026 before falling.
JPM Natural Resources, WS Amati Strategic Metals, Guinness Global Energy, BlackRock World Mining and YFS Charteris Gold and Precious Metals are the most-researched funds in the peer group, while BlackRock Gold & General, Jupiter Gold And Silver, Ninety One Global Gold and SVS Baker Steel Gold & Precious Metals are the most popular funds in the IA Specialist sector.
Source: Trustnet, Google Analytics. Data as at 30 Sep 2026
The table above shows the 25 most-popular funds in 2026 so far and the whole of 2025, but in looking for trends in investor research we analysed the top 100 for both periods.
Artemis Global Income is now the most researched Investment Association fund on Trustnet, after climbing into second place last year. The fund, which is managed by Jacob de Tusch-Lec and James Davidson, has been on a strong run and is currently the best-performing member of the IA Global Equity Income sector over three and five years.
The managers look for attractively valued companies that are generating surplus cashflow and returning cash to shareholders through dividends, buybacks or debt reduction. It tends to run a structural underweight to the US, arguing that US valuations price in too much optimism.
Analysts at FE Investments said: “Artemis Global Income is one of the most distinctive genuinely active offerings in the global income universe and the 15-year tenure-consistent record under De Tusch-Lec is a substantive differentiator. The process is coherent, the philosophy is clearly articulated and the team has demonstrated the conviction to hold its positions through difficult periods and benefit when conditions turn.”
The IA Global Equity Income sector has been researched more by investors in 2026 but it’s worth noting that this was driven almost entirely by this fund. When Artemis Global Income is stripped out, research into the IA Global Equity Income sector has been flat.
Artemis has another eight funds in the top 100, reflecting the strong returns made by the group in recent years. Artemis Monthly Distribution is ranked eighth, while Artemis SmartGARP European Equity, Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity, Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity and Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity are also in the top 20.
The popularity of the SmartGARP funds, which use a ‘growth-at-a-reasonable-price’ investment approach, hints at another trend among the most-researched funds on Trustnet: fading interest in established quality-growth names in favour of value investing.
Fundsmith Equity was the most-viewed fund by a clear margin for a long time but has been sliding down the rankings in recent years and is now in sixth place. Lindsell Train Global Equity, WS Lindsell Train UK Equity, Baillie Gifford Global Discovery and BNY Mellon Long Term Global Equity are other quality-growth funds that have fallen out of the top 100 altogether, while Rathbone Global Opportunities, Royal London Global Equity Select and Baillie Gifford American also lost ground.
Performance of investment factors in 2026 YTD
Source: Total return in sterling between 1 Jan and 30 Sep 2026
As the chart above shows, both growth and quality stocks have underperformed the value style in 2026. Growth investing was hit hard at the start of 2026 as software stocks sold off on fears of AI disruption, the war in Iran, inflation and higher rates and has failed to overtake value since.
Orbis Global Balanced, Fidelity Special Situations, Jupiter UK Income, JOHCM UK Equity Income, Ranmore Global Equity and Man Japan Core Alpha are examples of popular funds that have a bias towards value stocks and have been getting researched more in 2026.