Laith Khalaf is AJ Bell's Head of Investment Analysis. He joined the company in 2020 and continues to explore the world of personal investing, providing research and analysis to both AJ Bell customers and the media. He has a degree in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge.
Laith is a leading industry commentator with over 20 years’ experience. As well as being a regular contributor to the financial pages of the national press, he’s a frequent guest on TV and radio, and for several years provided daily business bulletins on LBC.
He started his career in 2001 on the customer helpdesk of Hargreaves Lansdown, where he gained invaluable experience understanding what DIY investors wanted, and the range of investments and tax shelters they held. This was in the early days of DIY SIPPs and ISAs, and coincided with the tech crash, the split cap investment trust scandal and the aftermath of the Equitable Life collapse. Suffice to say there was no shortage of drama!
In 2007, Laith began to focus on research and analysis, initially within the pensions market, and quickly built a reputation for providing commentary and data for everyday investors and financial journalists. He then moved on to investment analysis, looking particularly at multi-asset funds, and selecting default funds for group pension schemes. You can find his comments in the national papers most weekends, and he is a frequent guest on AJ Bell’s Money & Markets podcast.
Outside of work, he likes to eat pistachio nuts and has become addicted to padel tennis.
22 September 2025
Annuities are paying out more: why are pensioners still avoiding them?Annuity rates are looking much juicier than they were thanks to rising bond yields, but retiring pension savers don’t seem to be taking much notice. When George Osborne introduced the pension freedoms a decade ago, the proportion of people buying an annuity at retirement plummeted from 90% to around 10%. It has remained close to that level ever...
26 August 2025
How to invest for passive incomeThe idea of creating an income stream in which you get paid without working is nothing new. It’s actually the fundamental basis of any retirement plan. However, the concept has been repackaged as ‘passive income’ in recent years, as people of working age seek to make more of their assets and abilities to boost their income. It covers all sorts of...
31 July 2025
How fund managers have succeeded in beating the market againIt looks like Donald Trump has done what years of toil and sweat have failed to achieve, namely some measure of outperformance from global active funds.
In the first half of 2025, 51% of active funds in the Global sector outperformed a passive alternative. That’s according to our latest Manager versus Machine report, which analyses over 1,000 funds...
30 July 2025
Five holiday money pitfalls to avoidThe summer holidays are fast approaching, and for millions of people that will mean buying some euros, krona or lira and jetting off for a couple of weeks of sunshine. In the flurry of pre-departure activity, it’s easy to lose sight of getting hold of some travel money, and that can often leave you rushing to convert your pounds at the last minute...
17 July 2025
Brits believe they need £3 million to be wealthy and Gen Z are the most optimistic they’ll get thereThe average Brit reckons they’d need just over £3 million to their name to feel wealthy, and young people are incredibly confident they’ll ‘make it’.
Over half of Gen Z (aged 18-27) think they’ll be wealthy one day, while 38% of millennials think the same.
Overall, 25% of the population believe they’ll be wealthy one day, indicating the economic...
20 June 2025
This is when more interest rate cuts might happenThe Bank of England may have kept rates unchanged in June, but this is unlikely to remain the case once we reach Autumn.
Against a backdrop of armed conflict, tariffs and inflationary pressures, it’s little wonder the Bank of England is holding fire on interest rate cuts and kept the cost of borrowing at 4.25% at its latest meeting.
The spike in...
19 June 2025
How to keep your money safe from WhatsApp scams and DeepfakesAll investors know that putting money in the stock market comes with risk attached. Over the long term your investments will tend to rise, but along the way they’ll go up or down. However, there is a risk many of us don’t consider very often, and that’s the possibility of falling prey to an investment scam.
Unfortunately, scamming has become a...
13 June 2025
Get ready for a ‘cruel summer of speculation’ ahead of the BudgetThe Spending Review was chancellor Rachel Reeves’ last scheduled foray into the national limelight before the Budget in the autumn, and attention will now turn to what tax rises might be in the post.
It’s not the Spending Review itself which will fan the flames of speculation, but the expansion of the Winter Fuel Allowance, which the government...
27 May 2025
The FTSE 100 shares that have beaten the NASDAQThe NASDAQ 100 index has been one of the best performing indices of the last 25 years, returning an average 8.8% annually since January 2000. To put that in pounds and pence, £10,000 invested in the index would now be worth £84,473 before fees, even throwing some shade on the broader US stock market in the form of the S&P 500, which is itself no...
8 May 2025
What the second UK interest rate cut of the year means for investments, savings and mortgagesThe Bank of England has cut UK interest rates to 4.25% and this has a major impact on personal finances. It is the lowest level for rates in two years.
The cut is good news for anyone looking to buy a house or flat as mortgage rates should come down, although many rates have already fallen in anticipation of Bank of England base rate cuts.
Investor...
