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.
2 March 2021
Vaccine success prompts bond sell offBond investors have had a pretty rocky start to 2021, and if the global vaccine roll-out prompts a sharp economic recovery, price falls clocked up this year could be just the beginning. This is of course on the back of a tremendous run of performance, stoked by low interest rates, and quantitative easing. Yields have fallen to such record low...
17 February 2021
Inflation starts 2021 without a bangInflation has started 2021 in much the same vein as it finished 2020, low and moving sideways. The fact that restaurants and hotels provided a large upward pressure on CPI, despite largely being shuttered in January, provides ample cause for caution when interpreting broad economic indicators in a world where activity has been so horribly distorted...
15 February 2021
Tax year end checklist – 14 things investors should consider before 5 April 2021With just under two months to go until the end of the tax year, investors should be thinking about how to make the most out of their long-term savings. Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve done the hard work for you.
1. Use your ISA and pension annual allowances
ISAs and pensions are a great way to save for the future because any income...
14 January 2021
The FTSE 100 stocks that time forgotThe last ten years have not been especially kind to the UK stock market, though with an annual total return over 5%, the FTSE 100 has at least shown a clean pair of heels to both cash and inflation. The performance of the stock market in the last decade serves to highlight the importance of both diversification and dividends to investor returns.
T...
16 December 2020
Black Friday effect lowers inflationInflation dropped in November thanks to a Black Friday effect, with increased discounting by retailers pushing down the cost of clothing and footwear. Of course, Black Friday occurs every year, but this time around discounts were particularly steep in clothing sales, which led to an unseasonal fall in prices. That highlights the continued pressure...
18 November 2020
Inflation climbs, slowlyCPI is slowly making a comeback, but it’s still way below the Bank of England’s 2% target. Inflation isn’t just a measure of prices in the here and now, but also one year ago. More substantial gains can therefore be expected as we head into spring, as the baseline for comparison moves into the post-pandemic era.
The current lockdown may create some...
12 November 2020
GDP Q3: The Economy Strikes BackA strong rebound in the economy is clearly positive, but we should keep the champagne on ice for now. The summer boom was turbo-charged by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, while the furlough scheme worked its magic by keeping unemployment under wraps. But if you shut down an economy and then open it up, it’s not hugely surprising that you get a huge...
6 November 2020
How to protect your finances from a double dip recessionWhether we get a double dip recession in the UK depends largely on whether lockdown measures continue after Christmas.
The economy can now be expected to shrink in the fourth quarter, but if things open up again at the beginning of the new year, we could see growth returning, albeit from a lower base. That may look overly optimistic right now, but...
5 November 2020
Bank of England unleashes £150 billion more QEThe Bank of England has unleashed another £150 billion of QE to help prop up the economy as it enters a second national lockdown. This may not be the end of the Bank’s pandemic interventions, particularly if another lockdown becomes necessary further down the line.
The Bank is beginning to run out of dry powder as it now holds almost half the gilt...
4 November 2020
Will the Bank of England cut rates below zero?The summer boom has faded since the Bank of England last met and the resurgent second wave of the pandemic has dented the economic outlook. We may get another dose of QE but the Bank is unlikely to rock the boat by imposing negative interest rates just yet given the state of flux in the pandemic and the economy.
However they are clearly warming...
