19 December 2024
Everything you need to know about the UK stock marketA lot of investors may not understand the difference between the London Stock Exchange, the FTSE 100, the AIM, and other names you’ve heard of. Learn about them here.
About the expert
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.
Latest articles from Laith Khalaf
19 December 2024
How to diversify your portfolioDiversifying your investment portfolio can help to spread risk across multiple types of investments, rather than putting all your eggs in one basket. Learn how it works.
16 December 2024
Why more people face a big January tax billLet’s not beat around the bush, January is an awful month. You’ve just spent a packet on Christmas, your favourite clothes are inexplicably tight, and your efforts to work off a little holiday weight in the gym are hampered by everyone else trying to do the same thing.
It’s against this backdrop of seasonal wretchedness that HMRC stations its...
12 November 2024
Is the US stock market too hot to handle?Markets seem to approve of the election of Donald Trump as the 47th US President. The S&P 500 has hit a record high in the wake of the election result, crossing over the 6,000 mark for the first time. This latest bump comes on the back of an exceptional run for US stocks, which has put other regional markets firmly in the shade, including the UK’s...
7 November 2024
What the latest UK interest rate cut means for borrowers and saversThe Bank of England’s decision on 7 November to cut interest rates to 4.75% was widely anticipated, but the path to future cuts has been muddied by Rachel Reeves’ Budget and the election of Donald Trump as US president.
Both these events have the potential to be inflationary, which would mean interest rates staying higher for longer. That doesn’t...
7 November 2024
First UK pension scheme dives into Bitcoin, but don’t expect a stampedeIt was only a matter of time before a UK pension scheme bought into Bitcoin, but this isn’t likely to spark a stampede into the asset class.
Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, and pension scheme trustees are just as notoriously risk averse. Why wouldn’t you be when you’re looking after someone else’s retirement savings?
The FCA says those investing...
24 October 2024
What lower inflation means for your personal financesInflation has fallen below the Bank of England’s target of 2% for the first time in three years, marking the end of the high inflation that created so much financial pain and turmoil over the past few years.
Inflation hit 1.7% in September, which has already sparked concerns that the Bank of England has pushed interest rates too high, and worries...
27 August 2024
Eight ways to beat rising dividend taxesCuts to the dividend allowance mean the number of people facing tax on their dividends is soaring. HMRC forecast just under 3.6 million people will pay tax on their dividends this tax year, almost double the number who paid three years ago.
These aren’t simply fat cats or company bosses. Lots of small shareholders and basic-rate taxpayers are...
27 August 2024
Can property really be your pension?If you’re thinking about using property to fund your retirement, you wouldn’t be the first. The post-financial crisis boom in house prices, propelled by low interest rates and government support schemes, led many budding property tycoons towards investing in buy to let instead of saving in a pension. For many, that gamble probably paid off, thanks...
21 August 2024
Which funds outperformed high inflation?Inflation started to rise three years ago, firing the starting gun on the cost of living crisis. In August 2021 the CPI measure of inflation jumped to 3.2%, up from 2% in July of that year, before hitting a peak of 11.1% in October 2022. It has since dropped to 2.2% at the latest reading. But which funds and sectors fared best during that high...
