Shares magazine

16 July 2026

In the not so distant past the UK industrials sector could be characterised as a collection of low-margin metal bashers producing commoditised products for mature economies. There has been significant improvement since then with leaner, more technologically focused companies operating in a far more diverse mix of geographies.

Many are leaders in...

16 July 2026

Free cash flow yield has a strong following among value and quality-oriented investors. It is seen as a cleaner measure of value than traditional valuation metrics like the PE (price to earnings) ratio.

Unlike reported earnings which are shaped by accounting choices like how to reflect the valuation of assets, when to recognise revenue, and whether...

16 July 2026

Income investors should never rule out a dividend cut. There are no guarantees with dividends and sometimes companies have no choice but to lower the amount paid to shareholders.

Dividend cuts are a live issue, and they are happening across the market. For example, we have already seen two FTSE 100 firms cut dividends this year, being drinks group...

17 June 2026

Ask the experts. Sarah Coles is on hand to answer your personal finance questions. If you’d like a question considered for a future edition send it in now .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I retire soon and want to make the most of the time I have left earning a regular salary. I’m...

16 June 2026

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 .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I worked in the US for a few years before returning back to the UK. Whilst out there I built up a $31,000...

16 June 2026

While ultimately the damage to most investors’ portfolios has likely been relatively light so far this year there has certainly been plenty for us all to fret about in 2026.

We have yet to see the full inflationary impact of the Iran war and the shutting off of the Strait of Hormuz but most are aware it is coming, while confidence in the AI story...

15 June 2026

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 .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I keep hearing about stagflation and how its bad for markets but could you explain what...

15 June 2026

The principle of reducing risk by spreading investments across different sectors and companies can be given another layer of diversification by considering investing in international markets.

Helpfully, there is an excellent range of products and instruments which allow you to participate in the returns from markets across the globe.

While there...

11 June 2026

Sometimes value and growth as investing styles are seen as polar opposites.

However, they can be combined – with the growth at a reasonable price (GARP for short) approach attempting to encompass both these factors.

The focus here is on high earnings growth where the price is low relative to forecast earnings – something which can be measured using...

11 June 2026

Semiconductor stocks have been surging ever since ChatGPT’s launch in 2022 sparked the AI theme into full flame. While names like Nvidia have been prominent, the list of AI beneficiaries is getting longer and is now encompassing CPUs, the brain handling logic in computers and laptops.

Nvidia was the standout beneficiary in the race to develop large...

11 June 2026

Insurer Legal & General is a cornerstone of income investors portfolios with the shares offering the highest dividend yield in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, currently around 8%.

L&G is a good example of the powerful effect of reinvesting dividends on total shareholder return.

While the share price performance looks uninspiring over the last five...

11 June 2026

The full new state pension is quoted as a flat rate £241.30 per week, or just over £12,500 a year, giving the impression that all pensioners with 35 or more qualifying years now get this. In practice, and over 10 years since the new system was introduced, many don’t.

The picture is more complex, mainly due to transitional rules introduced when the...

11 June 2026

Asia is a fruitful place for income and portfolio diversification, with more companies returning cash to investors as a reward for taking the risk of owning their shares. Parts of Asia are also attractive from a valuation perspective.

Investors in the UK might be less familiar with Asian stocks and so the easiest way to get exposure is via funds...

11 June 2026

Ask the experts. Paul Angell is on hand to answer your questions about investments. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

What guidance is available for someone with only a couple of years until retirement who is...

11 June 2026

The UK job market is a tough place to be right now, with the jobless rate unexpectedly rising to 5% in the latest ONS figures, just as the number of job vacancies fell to its lowest level in five years.

Losing your job is one of the most stressful experiences someone can go through and for Luke, it’s caused him to totally change course on how he’s...

11 June 2026

The share price of memory chip play Micron Technology has enjoyed an astonishing run heading into its upcoming quarterly results on 24 June helping it to a $1 trillion market valuation for the first time.

The most recent catalyst was research published by investment bank UBS which raised the price target on the stock from $535 to $1,625.

AI-related...

11 June 2026

Streaming giant Netflix has been the great disruptor in the world of home entertainment over the last decade or so. It is therefore jarring to see a big plank of the company’s current strategy seemingly ape the linear TV model which it helped overturn as it embraces advertising and live sports events.

At the same time, the company losing out in a...

11 June 2026

Emerging markets (EM) have enjoyed a recovery in returns and investor sentiment during the past few months, mainly fueled by AI optimism. But one of the areas experts had pegged as a long-term winner just a few years ago is now noticeably absent from the EM conversation: India.

Cast your mind back five years ago and the investment industry was...

21 May 2026

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 .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I want my employer to make contributions into my SIPP. How do they do this for the first time and what do I...

21 May 2026

As the domestic football season enters its final knockings and the winners are sorted from the losers its interesting and instructive to look at the fortunes of football clubs on the stock market and what it tells us about investing in general.

I may be a big football fan but there’s a reason why I don’t mix investing with the beautiful game. The...

20 May 2026

Ask the experts. Paul Angell is on hand to answer your questions about investments. If you'd like a question considered for a future edition, send it in now.

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I’ve been investing for a while but mainly in index funds. I’m trying to become a more involved...

20 May 2026

At first glance, US stocks look fully valued based on traditional valuation metrics like the PE (price to earnings) ratio, but a new study by researchers at the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis suggests equity markets may be somewhat less expensive than generally thought.

This article ‘unpacks’ the new research to explain the key differences between...

19 May 2026

Ask the experts. Laura Suter is here to answer your personal finance questions. If you’d like a question considered for a future edition send it in now .

Or alternatively leave a rating for the article and include your question in the comment box.

I’m new to investing and have around £8,000 I’d like to put into the market, but I’m feeling...

19 May 2026

Two of the main protagonists in the AI infrastructure space – Nvidia and Broadcom – are set to offer an insight into the competitive dynamics in this surging market with their latest quarterly results.

Both chip makers coexist within the same AI hardware. Nvidia specialising in the ‘off-the-shelf’ high-performance GPUs (like its Blackwell series)...

18 May 2026

Every month in these pages AJ Bell’s Head of Markets Dan Coatsworth takes you through different facets of income investing. Generating an income from the stocks and funds you hold is a big part of why many people put their money to work in the stock market.

That’s because stocks do not just offer the ability to make gains when share prices go up –...