- Fund platform best buy lists can highlight funds you might want to buy or monitor
- They offer no guarantees that these handpicked investments will prove to be winners or that they will avoid the losers
- 12 funds are recommended by at least four commonly used investment platforms
UK investors have almost 5,000 collective investments to choose from, including around 4,500 open-ended funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs), plus nearly 400 investment trusts. But if the time you have to spend on researching investments is limited, it's probably way too much choice. So investment platforms try to help by whittling down this massive universe to much shorter suggested lists of 50 to 100 funds.
Platforms select the funds on their lists using the skills of internal or external analysts, looking at past performance, fund managers’ style and track record, costs and charges. They offer no guarantees that these handpicked investments will prove to be winners or that they will avoid the losers. And the concept of ‘best buys’ isn't without controversy, for example Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) recommended LF Woodford Equity Income Fund right up until its demise.