Regional equity funds dominated the leaderboard of the most popular funds chosen by advisers on the AJ Bell Investcentre platform in 2022.

Out of the top 20 funds, over half were regional equity funds.

Advisers predominantly backed active funds with tried and trusted names, with Fundsmith, Vanguard and Ballie Gifford proving popular.

Bond funds also proved popular, despite less attractive yields in 2022 than recent years and the risks attached to the asset class from inflation.

The 20 most popular funds and trusts with advisers on the AJ Bell Investcentre platform, ranked by number of buys between 1 January and 9 December, were:

1. Fundsmith Equity
2. Vanguard Lifestrategy
3. Fidelity Asia
4. Janus Henderson Strategic Bond
5. Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust
6. Artemis Corporate Bond
7. Baillie Gifford American,
8. Lindsell Train UK Equity
9. Vanguard FTSE UK All Share Index
10. Premier Miton US Opportunities
11. Brewin Dolphin MI Select Alternatives
12. Brewin Dolphin MI Select Bond
13. Stewart Asia Pacific Leaders Sustainability
14. Brewin Dolphin MI Select UK Equity
15. Rathbone Ethical Bond
16. Baillie Gifford Managed
17. iShares Core Global Aggregate Bond ETF
18. Blackrock Sterling Liquidity
19. Baillie Gifford Japanese
20. HSBC American Index Fund

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, said the range of funds demonstrated how advisers were taking a more 'granular' approach to asset allocation than direct investors.

He said: “There’s a fairly broad range of regional equity funds at the top of the leaderboard, which shows that advisory investment models prefer to take a granular approach to asset allocation, rather than plumping for global funds where there is less control over geographical exposure.”

DIY investors buying funds through AJ Bell predominantly chose passive funds, continuing a longstanding trend of DIY investors moving towards passives.

The popularity of ETFs also suggested that some DIY investors are buying the market dips.

The top 10 funds chosen by AJ Bell’s DIY investors in 2022, ranked by number of buy trades, were:

1. Fundsmith Equity
2. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
3. Fidelity Index World
4. Vanguard Lifestrategy
5. iShares Core FTSE 100 ETF
6. Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index
7. Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF
8. iShares S&P 500 ETF
9. Fidelity Global Special SITS
10. Vanguard FTSE 250 ETF

When it comes to investment trusts, DIY investors remained focused on active management. The leaderboard was topped by Scottish Mortgage, followed by Scottish Investment Trust.