What would £1,000 invested in five of the most popular funds be worth today?

Investors who backed technology companies around the world five years ago would have seen average returns of more than 20 per cent a year, figures from Morningstar show.

The returns come despite the Covid pandemic crash and the tumble in tech shares in 2022 and highlight the advantage of spreading your investments in a fund.

Branded as ‘Global Tech’ on Plum, Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust was both the most popular and top performer over the past five years of the five most held funds on investment and money management app, Plum.

Global Tech would have turned a £1,000 investment in February 2020 into £2,687 today – a 169 per cent return (Source: Morningstar).

But what are the rest of the top five most popular funds held by Plum’s investors, how do they invest, and how have they performed. We take a look below and highlight why regular investing could also pay off.

Keep in mind when reading the below that, as with all investments the value of your investments can go down as well as up and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Capital at risk. All past returns displayed below are for a 5-year period and exclusive of Plum’s fees, which may affect the real return. This is not financial advice. 

The five most popular funds

We define popular as the funds in which Plum’s customers have invested the most on their app. 

Unsurprisingly, considering the growth of big technology companies and the US stock market over recent years, Plum’s list of its investors five most popular funds has Global Tech and a US tracker at the top.

The other funds making up the top five were Global Health, Growth Stack and Balanced Bundle.

These are the five most popular funds on Plum’s app, with returns quoted before its platform fees:

Global Tech

Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust

5-year average annualised return: 21.86%

Five-year total return

£1,000 to £2,687

£2,000 to £5,374

How it invests: Plum’s Global Tech fund uses Legal & General Global Technology Trust to invest in technology companies around the world by tracking an index made up of a basket of their shares.

Due to the dominance of US tech giants, this means it is heavily weighted towards America, although it also holds technology leaders from other countries.

Six of the so-called Magnificent Seven, Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Nvidia all featured in its top ten holdings on 31 December 2024, accounting for 45.9 per cent of the portfolio weight, according to Morningstar data.

The other members of the top ten holdings were chip firms Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and ASML holdings.

This fund delivered high average annual returns of 21.86 per cent between 10 February 2020 and 10 February 2025, but investors were making a concentrated bet on tech and will have experienced a rollercoaster ride along the way.

Core US S&P500

Vanguard U.S. Equity Index Fund

5-year average annualised return: 14.35%

Five-year total return

£1,000 to £1,955

£2,000 to £3,910

How it invests: Plum’s Core US S&P500 fund does what it says on the tin and uses Vanguard’s US Equity Index Fund to track the leading US stock market, the S&P 500.

This market capitalisation weighted index is made up of the 500 largest companies listed on the US stock market in proportion to their market value.

The huge share price gains seen by the Magnificent Seven over the past two years mean that these firms now dominate the top ten holdings.

Leading the way is Apple, at 6.6 per cent, followed by Nvidia at 5.75 per cent and Microsoft at 5.5 per cent. Google’s parent firm Alphabet has two share classes, and both make the top ten. This leaves room for only Broadcom and Warren Buffett’s investment firm Berkshire Hathaway in the remaining top ten spots.

Investors in the S&P 500 have backed a broader set of investments than those opting for Global Tech but much of the returns have been delivered by technology stocks. Those who put their faith in US exceptionalism have been rewarded with an average annual return of 14.35 per cent over five years.

Global Health

5-year average annualised return: 6.79%

Five-year total return

£1,000 to £1,389

£2,000 to £2,778

How it invests: Plum’s Global Health fund backs an area that many see as having future growth potential due to innovation and increasing spending on healthcare as major nations’ populations age.

It uses Legal & General’s Global Health & Pharmaceuticals Index Trust to track an index of drugmakers and health-related firms around the world.

The rapid rise of weight-loss drugs, discovered as a by-product of diabetes treatments, has seen names like Ozempic, Wegovy and become familiar around the world. This has fuelled major share price gains for leading producers, US firm Eli Lilly and Co, and Danish firm Novo Nordisk, which make up 8.6 per cent and 3.7 per cent of the fund’s weight.

Eli Lilly is the biggest holding and Novo Nordisk the fifth biggest. Other well-known names in the top 10 include UnitedHealth Group, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Roche.

Investors in global health have ridden out the Covid pandemic and now seen attention switch to weight-loss drugs and their potential elsewhere, such as treating addiction. Rewards have been positive, with an average annual return of 6.79 per cent over five years, turning £1,000 into £1,389.

Growth stack

5-year average annualised return: 7.6%

Five-year total return

£1,000 to £1,442

£2,000 to £2,885

How it invests: Plum’s Growth Stack uses the Vanguard Lifestrategy 80% Equity Fund to allow investors to back companies all around the world and hold some bonds as a counter-balance, all in one simple low cost investment.

The fund is made up of 80 per cent shares and 20 per cent bonds and other similar fixed income investments, which dials down the risk levels from holding entirely shares. This means that on a one to seven risk scale, the fund comes in at five. The higher the score, the higher the risk level.

An interesting aspect of the fund for investors is that it is tilted towards the UK, with Vanguard’s FTSE UK All Share Index Trust making up 19.4 per cent, the same percentage as the next largest holding the Vanguard US Equity Index Fund.

This means that the fund can be a play on giving some backing to the UK stock market, which is considered cheaper on valuation metrics, while shifting away from the US market, which is currently considered expensive. Global developed markets, emerging markets, Europe and Japan, also make up substantial holdings.

Investors in the Growth Stack have seen solid returns over five years, at an average of 7.6 per cent, turning £1,000 into £1,442, while also nudging down their risk rating.

Balance Bundle

5-year average annualised return: 5.06%

Five-year total return

£1,000 to £1,280

£2,000 to £2,560

How it invests: Plum’s Balance Bundle uses Vanguard’s LifeStrategy 60% Equity Fund to create a similar investment opportunity to the Growth Stack but with an extra element of counter-weighting from holding bonds.

In this case, the fund is made up of 60 per cent shares and 40 per cent bonds, creating a simple, low-cost version of the traditional 60 / 40 portfolio.

This blend of investments has long been recommended by financial experts as a way to back the wealth-creating power of stock markets, while reducing volatility by holding bonds.

The relatively smaller returns from the Balance Bundle reflect the lower risk but are still solid at an average of 5.06 per cent over five years, turning £1,000 into £1,280.

Compounding: Investing smaller amounts regularly could pay off

Investors do not need to put a large lump sum into to get started and many prefer to invest smaller amounts regularly.

This has the advantage of reducing the risk of paying in a substantial amount and then being unlucky enough to see markets suddenly fall.

It also creates an investing habit that over the years could reap the rewards of compounded returns, where gains are made on previous gains.

Someone investing £100 per month over the past five years and getting a similar return to that seen on the growth stack above, at 7.5 per cent per year, could potentially have £7,253, according to This is Money’s long-term saving and investing calculator. (Exclusive of Plum’s fees – more information here)

This would be £1,253 more than the £6,000 they had paid in over that period.

The effects of compounding are magnified over the long term if your potential earnings are reinvested.

Someone investing £100 per month for 20 years at an average 7.5 per cent return would turn £24,000 paid in into £55,373, but if they did that for 30 years they would have £134,744 – despite only paying in an extra £12,000.

Plum is the trading name of Plum Fintech Limited and Saveable Limited. Plum Fintech Limited is registered and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 836158). Saveable Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA (FRN: 739214)