Our business
- Co-founded by Andy Bell in 1995, AJ Bell is one of the largest investment platforms in the UK
- At the heart of our business is a clear and simple purpose: "We help people to invest"
- We do this by making our platform easy to use and great value, with one of the lowest-cost pricing structures in the market
- We operate at scale in both the advised and direct-to-consumer (D2C) segments of the investment platform market, through our flagship platform propositions: AJ Bell Investcentre and AJ Bell Youinvest
- Our platform gives customers access to a wide range of AJ Bell and third-party investment options via Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs), Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and Dealing Accounts
- AJ Bell listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market in December 2018
Key investment highlights
- Our market
- Our proposition
- Our customers
- Our business model
- Quality of earnings
- Cash generation
- Our people
We operate in an attractive retail market within the UK savings and investment industry
Structural factors supporting growth
Demographics – an ageing population that is both living and working for longer
Government and regulatory – drive for greater personal responsibility and self-provision of long-term savings, supported by pension freedoms and auto enrolment
Technology – digital age driving tech-savvy customers and asset flows from non-platform to platform
Financial – growing awareness of the UK savings gap and a shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pension schemes
High barriers to entry
Scale – required to achieve profitability
Technology – significant investment required to create scalable and robust systems with high levels of straight-through processing
Brand – recognition and trust required both in advised and D2C market segments
Regulatory capital and compliance requirements – increasing as platforms become mainstream
We operate an award-winning platform in both the advised and D2C market segments
- One of the UK’s fastest growing adviser platforms
- Used by UK FCA authorised advisers with either advisory or full discretionary permissions
- Account types: SIPPs, Retirement Investment Accounts, Stocks and Shares ISAs, Lifetime ISAs, General Investment Accounts (GIAs), Junior SIPPs, Junior ISAs, Offshore Bond accounts and a full range of income drawdown options
- Wide investment range: equities, funds, investment trusts, ETFs and bonds. Full SIPP capability including individual property
- Investment solutions: low-cost Managed Portfolio Service and AJ Bell Funds
- Highly competitive pricing
- One of the UK’s fastest growing D2C investment platforms
- Execution-only: 'investment guidance' provided but no 'personal recommendations' (i.e. no regulated investment advice)
- Account types: SIPPs, Stocks and Shares ISAs, Lifetime ISAs, Dealing accounts, Junior SIPPs, Junior ISAs and a Cash Savings hub.
- Mainstream retail investments: equities, funds, investment trusts, ETFs and bonds
- Investment solutions: AJ Bell Funds, Favourite funds list, Investment trust select list and Ready-made portfolios
- Investment help: Shares magazine articles, videos, daily market updates, weekly insight emails, podcasts and rich investment data
- Highly competitive pricing
We have a loyal base of high quality customers.
Advised platform
£361k average portfolio value
Total Customers127k
AUA£45.8bn
1.19accounts per customer
Average customer age56
Customer retention rate95%
Average annual fees received per £100,000 invested£176
D2C platform
£81k average portfolio value
Total Customers241k
AUA£19.5bn
1.26accounts per customer
Average customer age43
Customer retention rate94%
Average annual fees received per £100,000 invested£430
We operate a profitable and scalable platform with embedded growth and margin expansion opportunities
Hybrid technology model
Proprietary user interfaces - adaptable and easy to use
Back-office systems outsourced to proven software providers - scalable systems updated for regulatory change
Back-office re-platforming completed in 2014 - system fully embedded in the business
Efficient operating model
High levels of online customer servicing, straight-through processing and automation
Single operating model supports both platform propositions - centralised operation in our Exchange Quay HQ in Manchester
Operational gearing driving increase in profit margins
High quality, largely recurring revenue from a diversified mix of revenue types
- Diversified revenue model - mix of fixed fees and recurring charges provides a balance of inflation protection and resilience in the face of economic and capital market fluctuations.
- Increasing recurring revenues - yields predictable and sustainable revenue streams
Our highly cash generative and capital light model supports a progressive dividend
Quick conversion of profits to cash
A high proportion of our profit is converted into cash in the year it is earned
Capital light and materially debt free business
Growth has been funded from retained earnings; it has not required primary fundraising or debt finance
Strong regulatory capital position
Our strong regulatory capital position is supported by a high Pillar I coverage.
Dividend policy
The Board has adopted a dividend policy based on an expected 65% payout ratio
Surplus capital accrued (over and above regulatory requirements or other specific needs) will be returned to shareholders at an appropriate time
An entrepreneurial, founder-led management team
- Our CEO, Andy Bell, co-founded AJ Bell in 1995. We are now one of the largest investment platforms in the UK
- Members of our executive management team have an average tenure of over 11 years
- Our Board governance structure has been in place for over a decade
Andy Bell
Highly engaged staff providing an award-winning service
- We employ over 900 employees across two offices in Manchester and London
- We have been consistently recognised as one of the Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work For
- We have won many industry awards across both the advised and D2C market segments
- All of our employees were awarded free shares as part of our IPO in December 2018
