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...
10 December 2025
How do I find funds which go against the herd?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 .
I’m worried about holding too many of the same sorts of companies in my portfolio. I want to find some funds that invest a bit differently, but they are difficult to identify. How do I pick...
10 December 2025
Approaching or in retirement; here’s your Budget breakdownRachel Reeves has now delivered her second Budget, but as I’m writing this column, most of the headlines seem more concerned with the lead up to the speech – government leaks and the future of the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) – rather than the smorgasbord of policies announced.
So, what changed for people who are approaching or already in...
12 November 2025
Welcome to the new-look Shares magazine – why you should read it and what to expectThe relaunched Shares magazine is out now. Produced monthly, the digital publication is intended to help you make informed choices and by doing so ‘make investing easier’.
It will draw on the deep pool of expertise which exists across AJ Bell. You can expect regular articles from AJ Bell experts on:
The latest market developments The different...
12 November 2025
Discover the key players behind the AI revolutionThe world changed forever in November 2022 when private company OpenAI released ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot. This ‘large language model’ is a type of machine learning which can understand and generate natural language and images.
This means LLMs can generate human-like text, write code, create content and solve puzzles...
12 November 2025
Decoding the conflicting investment advice of Warren E. BuffettWarren Buffett stands ready to exit stage left from one of the most glittering careers in business history. Over six decades he has turned Berkshire Hathaway from a struggling textiles business into a trillion-dollar company, now often standing alone among the big technology stocks at the top of the S&P 500.
At the end of this year, Warren Buffett...
12 November 2025
Two new members of the $4 trillion clubThe $4 trillion club had two new entries at the end of October 2025 as Microsoft and Apple joined Nvidia in reaching the milestone. Apple was the first company to hit a $1 trillion valuation in August 2018, nearly 500 years after the first formal stock market began trading in Amsterdam in 1602. It took less than seven years for Nvidia to reach a...
12 November 2025
How can I tell if I’m financially ‘on track’ for my age?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’m in my late 30s, earning what I’d call a decent salary, but I never really know if I’m doing well enough with my money. I save a bit each month, pay into my pension through work, and try not...
12 November 2025
Retirement planning: reasons to keep calm and carry onI’m excited to be a part of the new monthly Shares magazine team. Each month, I’ll look at what readers in the run up to retirement, and those already enjoying it should consider, with some planning pointers along the way.
To say the last few years in pensions have seen plenty of changes is an understatement. The lifetime allowance has been...
12 November 2025
Could Abenomics repeat itself under Takaichi?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.
I notice Japanese stocks have been trading at record levels recently. What does the new prime minister Sanae Takaichi mean for the markets and will there be a repeat of Abenomics which...
12 November 2025
Will I be affected by the increased age limit on taking pension benefits?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.
Currently the earliest one can access their pension benefits is upon reaching the age of 55. The government announced this limit would rise to 57 from 6 April 2028.
Having saved diligently and invested...
