20 January 2026
A spring clean not New Year’s resolution might be the best bet for your investingAt this time of year investors are frequently bombarded with messages about New Year’s resolutions for their money.
This is often well-intentioned and useful advice but it would be understandable if some people responded with an internal groan and why on a broader basis adopted at this time of year resolutions often fail.
It’s dark, it’s cold...
19 January 2026
How do private equity trusts shape up as an investment?Investors can get FOMO about private equity; an industry wrapped in old-school allure. Even if it is a small portion of a large industry, private equity firms are known for investing in F1 teams and the NFL. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to picture deals being celebrated on yachts and in Michelin star restaurants.
Some investors want to...
19 January 2026
I’m a cash lover, what do the Budget Cash ISA changes mean for me?Ask the experts. Laura Suter is on hand to answer your personal finance questions. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition send it in now.
I’ve seen the changes to Cash ISAs announced in the Budget, and I’m worried about how it’ll affect me. I max out my Cash ISA every year by putting in the full £20,000, so any change to the...
18 January 2026
What to expect from big tech as AI fever subsidesSix of the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ are set to report their earnings between the last week of January and the first week of February. Combined these companies add up to a combined $17 trillion of market valuation – or around 30% of the entire value of the US market’s flagship S&P 500 index.
The mood music feels like it has already shifted from...
18 January 2026
What will happen with my pension if I go into a care home?Ask the experts. Rachel Vahey is here to answer questions on pensions. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.
If you go into a care home and have a drawdown pension the local authority can compare the income you take from pension drawdown against the income you would receive if you bought an annuity on a single...
17 January 2026
How to screen for the very best companiesJust as when you’re buying a new jacket or set of kitchen knives, paying attention to quality when you are investing in a company’s shares is often a decision which can pay off in the long term. With this in mind, we are exploring how you can go about identifying some of the UK’s very highest quality companies.
While there is no generally accepted...
17 January 2026
Three ways to protect your investments from a stock market crashThere is a recurring question being posed by investors right now: is there going to be a stock market crash? There is a very simple answer to this question: yes there is. Booms and crashes are part and parcel of the market cycle.
It might be simple, but this truism isn’t especially helpful. What people really want to know is whether a correction in...
16 January 2026
Why hitting 75 still matters when it comes to your pensionsWhen the pensions lifetime allowance was abolished in 2024, it was widely seen as good news for people with larger pension pots. But it also created a bit of a myth; that age 75 no longer matters in the world of pensions.
It’s true that there is no lifetime allowance test at 75 to worry about, but it remains a key point where HMRC draws a line...
16 January 2026
What do sky-high government debt and records for equities and gold mean for investors?Ask the experts. Russ Mould is on hand to answer your queries about the financial markets. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.
Equities and gold are close to all-time highs, while government debt has also sky rocketed. What does this mean for investors?
Simon
Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment Director, says:The...
15 January 2026
How I invest: from being paralysed by indecision to passing on the investing habitFive years ago, Lily turned to investing mostly out of frustration. Interest rates were floating around 1%, and her savings were barely growing. In fact, when you factored in inflation, she was losing money.
Her thought process was simple: “This is not good enough”. She hadn’t considered investing as much previously, partly because she was saving...
15 January 2026
Why UK bank shares have soared in recent yearsThe UK banking sector has delivered strong price returns to investors over the last five years, averaging 218% compared with a 50% gain for the blue-chip FTSE 100 index.
On a total return basis, including dividends, the sector has chalked up 279%, making it the second-best performing sector in the FTSE 350 index after the aerospace and defence...
13 January 2026
What next for Rolls-Royce after a 14-fold return in three years?The performance of Rolls-Royce shares since CEO Tufan Erginbilgiç took the helm at the start of 2023 is astonishing. The shares have increased nearly 14-fold to even outperform the poster child of the dominant AI theme Nvidia. At the time of writing they have just outmatched the chip giant on a total returns basis (encompassing share price gains...
12 January 2026
Dividend taxes are going up from April: here’s how to beat themAn extra two percentage points on dividend tax could have a meaningful impact on investors from April.
It might not sound a lot, but the extra tax could add up for someone with a fair-sized portfolio. Fortunately, there are way to minimise the impact as we now discuss.
What’s the current system?Brits can earn up to £12,570 a year without paying...
16 December 2025
What is the Shiller PE and can it reveal if we’re in a bubble?Ask the experts. Russ Mould is on hand to answer your queries about the financial markets. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.
What is the Shiller PE and can it reveal if we’re in a bubble?
There is a lot of noise in the current market about Shiller PE ratio and markets. If you can please explain this I would...
15 December 2025
The best way to get the UK investing is education not Cash ISA cutsThe decision by the chancellor to cut the Cash ISA allowance for under-65s to £12,000 appears to have been driven, at least in part, by an aspiration to get the UK investing on a much larger scale.
AJ Bell is on record that the ISA needs to be simplified, rather than made more complex as will be the case as a result of this change. Elsewhere in the...
15 December 2025
Portfolio MOT: how to keep your investments ticking overThe one constant everyone can rely on in life and investing is change. Keeping on top of shifts in your portfolio is crucial if you want to remain positioned to reach your long-term goals.
Before considering your investments, it is probably worth taking stock of your personal situation to consider any material changes. Things like getting married...
15 December 2025
Festive trading: what to expect from Next, Tesco and moreDecember is a key trading period for UK retailers which can make or break the year. With the Budget not as damaging as some may have feared, companies are now in a position focus on the festive season.
Next is seen as a barometer for the UK retail sector due to its wide range of products and broad customer base.
Traditionally it is also the first...
13 December 2025
What will happen to my pension if I move abroad?Ask the experts. Rachel Vahey is here to answer questions on pensions. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.
Three years ago, we bought property in Spain, and since our retirement last year, my husband and I are currently dividing our time between the UK and Spain. However, this is a temporary arrangement, and...
12 December 2025
Different ways investments generate income for youIncome investors seeking true diversification should consider more than just whether a fund invests in shares, bonds or other asset classes when making choices for a pension or ISA.
It’s important to look at how a fund generates an income stream for investors, as it isn’t always as straightforward as passing on dividends from investments inside its...
12 December 2025
Why bonds matter to all investorsWhen people talk about investing, shares usually steal the spotlight. But behind the scenes, there’s a much bigger player quietly shaping everything from mortgage rates to pension deficits to taxes. That’s the bond market. Worth around £150 trillion globally, bonds form the bedrock of the world’s financial system. So what exactly are they, and why...
12 December 2025
Can Indian stocks start firing again after pause for breath?Despite AI fears, geopolitical conflict, and ever-changing tariff policies, markets have (for the most part) ticked along reasonably well this year.
Even after April’s dip, the S&P 500 has recovered, and the FTSE 100 has enjoyed a much more positive year than it has in some time. But one of the world’s top markets over the past decade, India, has...
11 December 2025
Revealed: a great way to find stocks at a discountIn this article we’re on the hunt for shares which are trading at valuations which are significantly lower than they have historically traded on.
To do this we have screened for companies trading at a discount to their average 10-year forward PE or price to earnings ratio.
The forward PE ratio is a stock valuation measure that uses a company’s...
11 December 2025
The how and why of investing in the pharmaceutical sectorCould investing in pharmaceutical companies get your portfolio in better shape? The pharma sector is, at the very least, difficult to ignore given it represents around a fifth of the MSCI World index. It has also outperformed this global benchmark index over the last 30 years.
In the last three and five years though, pharma stocks have...
11 December 2025
Nvidia vs Google: what next as AI race hots up?No investor, whether they want to or not, can really afford to ignore microchip giant Nvidia. While it may have shrunk a little of late, the world’s largest company remains so big that, as of 31 October 2025, it accounted for around 6% of the global MSCI World index all on its own.
This means nearly anyone with broad global exposure to the markets...
11 December 2025
What should I do with my first bonus: treat myself, save it or invest it?Ask the experts. Laura Suter is on hand to answer your personal finance questions. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition send it in now.
I’ve just received my first-ever work bonus, and I’m not sure what to do with it. Part of me wants to celebrate and splurge on something I’ve wanted for ages, but I also feel like I should be...
