10 June 2026

AI’s second wind: where investor confidence is growing

AI has been arguably the largest factor shaping markets for the past few years now, and despite investor nerves around the price of some AI-focussed companies, markets are still charging ahead. But while the first few years of the AI theme left the US with the biggest benefits, the fastest growth is now happening in emerging markets ex-China.

In...

6 May 2026

April market review: How equities bounced back while bonds floundered

After a chaotic March, April allowed investors to take a step back and process the situation in front of them. What markets saw, by and large, was a return to the norms of earlier this year.

The US made a strong recovery, as the Morningstar US Market index rose 7.2% during the month, while the Morningstar UK Index climbed up 2.4%. The indices are...

21 April 2026

How AJ Bell funds performed in the first quarter of the year

Despite a rocky March for markets due to the war in Iran, six of the nine funds in the AJ Bell range ended the first quarter of the year with a positive return.

Across the past month, we’ve seen the effects of the US-Iran conflict trickle down through the market, most prominently through the rise of energy prices and a shift in interest rate...

6 March 2026

The Iran conflict: what it means for AJ Bell funds

There have been big moves across the price of shares, funds, bonds, oil and more over the past week after the US and Israel attacked Iran. US President Donald Trump has indicated the campaign could last several weeks, but it could extend beyond this timeframe with no ceasefire in sight.

The situation has caused disturbance in markets, and while...

25 February 2026

The US market might be more promising than it seems

Investors’ obsession with the US seems to be waning as returns from the country’s flagship S&P 500 index slowed from 24.5% in 2024 to 17.9% in 2025 and made an uncertain start to 2026.

So, it may seem surprising that in our latest rebalance, the AJ Bell investment team chose to increase the proportion of assets we hold in the US. Notably, our...

22 January 2026

How AJ Bell funds are shifting their asset allocation this year

Each year, the AJ Bell investment team reviews their fund range and prepares for the changing market environment by tweaking the fund allocations.

Although the fund range will consider many of the same factors, the specifics of the adjustments will be on a fund-to-fund basis, to account for different risk levels. This year’s asset allocation...

11 December 2025

Why the AJ Bell investment team favours the UK

Investing in the UK when the economic environment feels weak might feel counterintuitive. While the perception of the UK economy is turbulent, the stock market has told a very different story.

As of 3 December, the FTSE All Share has returned 21% this year, near double the returns from the S&P 500 for UK investors. So, what is going so right for...

12 November 2025

Are AI opportunities better outside the US?

When AI comes up in market conversations, the US usually quickly follows. This is for good reason. It holds many of the heavyweights, including Nvidia, Microsoft, and Alphabet. But it is far from the only region that’s benefitted from the AI boost.

On the other side of the globe, emerging markets have made their own market niches. These have...

21 January 2025

The changes we've made to the AJ Bell funds

The AJ Bell funds are managed by the team at AJ Bell Investments, with one aim: helping you invest. We look after the funds and make the daily decisions to keep your money working hard for you.

That means, from time to time, we’ll make updates to the funds in response to differing market conditions. In this article, we’ll take you through the...