With just two exceptions, all the exchange-traded funds in the best-sellers’ list for the first half of the year were straightforward stock market tracker funds. The two to buck the trend were an ETF that invests in semiconductors – flavour of the month among investors with an appetite for risk – and a cash fund.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF was the third most popular ETF among Fidelity’s customers over the first six months of the year. The semiconductor industry produces silicon computer chips such as CPUs, GPUs (graphics processing units) and memory modules. All are in great demand from big American tech companies such as Microsoft and Amazon as they rush to build AI data centres. As a result, share prices of chip suppliers have soared and some investors have participated in that bull market by holding semiconductor ETFs such as VanEck’s.
A cash ETF in the form of Amundi Smart Overnight Return, meanwhile, took the fourth spot. The exact version that made it into the top 10 was the sterling ‘hedged’ variety, which is denominated in pounds and seeks to strip out the effects of changing exchange rates. It currently yields 4.1%. Please note this is not guaranteed.
The remaining eight ETFs in the top 10 track, as we mentioned, more conventional stock market indices. Readers are likely to be familiar with many of them, such as the S&P 500 and the MSCI All Country World. However, two ETFs stand out for their slightly more nuanced nature. One is the iShares MSCI World Ex USA in ninth place in the top 10 and the other is the Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield in 10th.
The iShares MSCI World Ex USA is likely to appeal to investors who want exposure to stock markets but are wary of the degree to which global indices are dominated by American stocks, or who worry about Wall Street’s valuation and current enthusiasm for all things AI. Whereas conventional global trackers tend to include Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta among their top holdings, this ETF’s largest holdings include HSBC, AstraZeneca, Nestlé and Shell.
The Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield ETF, meanwhile, does hold shares in US companies but there are no ‘Magnificent 7’ stocks among its top 10 holdings – the ‘Mag 7’ tend to be more focused on growth than paying dividends. Instead, top holdings include JPMorgan Chase, Exxon Mobil, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and HSBC. Total exposure to the US is 39.2% of the fund, compared with 61.6% for the Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF.
Let’s quickly run through the remaining six ETFs in the top 10 for the first half of the year. In first place was the Vanguard FTSE All-World, which invests in both developed and developing markets, followed in second place by the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. After VanEck Semiconductor and Amundi Smart Overnight Return in the next two places, fifth position was taken by the SSGA SPDR MSCI All Country World ETF. That index also covers both developed and emerging markets.
In the sixth spot was the Invesco FTSE All-World ETF, followed by the Vanguard FTSE Developed World ETF. The index tracked by the latter excludes emerging markets. The iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index ETF took the eighth position, followed, as mentioned above, by the iShares MSCI World Ex USA and Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield ETFs.
Finally, it’s notable that no funds that track British stocks made it into the top 10. The iShares Core FTSE 100 ETF had scraped into the list at number 10 over the first quarter of the year.
Top 10 best-selling ETFs on Fidelity Personal Investing in the first half of 2026
- Vanguard FTSE All-World
- Vanguard S&P 500
- VanEck Semiconductor
- Amundi Smart Overnight Return
- SSGA SPDR MSCI All Country World
- Invesco FTSE All-World
- Vanguard FTSE Developed World
- iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index
- iShares MSCI World Ex USA
- Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield
Source: Fidelity International. Net ETF sales 1 January to 30 June 2026 for Personal Investors only.
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Source: Original Article
