Russ Mould is AJ Bell's Investment Director. He has a Master's degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford and more than 30 years' experience of the capital markets.
He started out at Scottish Equitable in 1991 as a fund manager, where he had responsibility for the Nordic and Swiss equity markets. In 1993, Russ joined SG Warburg, now part of UBS investment bank, and worked there as an equity analyst covering the technology sectors for 12 years. He has also worked on IPOs and M&A deals. Russ was voted best analyst in the semiconductor sector in 2001 by Institutional Investor and reached the level of Managing Director in 2003 when he became head of UBS' global semiconductor research effort.
A member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (MSCI), Russ is responsible for providing written and video content for customers and clients. He also helps to build the company’s profile in print and broadcast media as part of AJ Bell's wider PR and brand team, working alongside the Investment Committee.
Russ joined Shares Magazine as technology correspondent in 2005 and took on the post of Editor in 2008. He was appointed as AJ Bell's Investment Director in 2013 following the company's acquisition of Shares' parent company, MSM Media. Russ regularly creates content across the AJ Bell website, including the Daily Market Update and Chart of the Week, and he hosts his own 'Breaking the Mould' weekly video series.
Outside of work, Russ is a qualified cricket coach, Italian speaker and avid fan of Doctor Who and NFL.
11 June 2020
Johnson Matthey dividend cut another jolt for income seekersJohnson Matthey’s decision to cut its dividend – and in the process end a streak of increases that dates back to the late 1980s – means that 48 FTSE 100 firms have now announced some kind of reduction to or suspension of payments to shareholders, compared to 47 that have kept or increased them since the start of the year.
Five FTSE 100 firms –...
10 June 2020
Little cheer from Chinatown owner Shaftesbury – but how much bad news is already in the valuation?An 11% in Net Asset Value (NAV) per share, a slowdown in leasing activity and the well-flagged cancellation of the interim dividend at Shaftesbury will all feed into the narrative that real estate is an asset class that it destined to underperform in the future as a result of the long-term implications of the Covid-19 pandemic. Such concerns could...
2 June 2020
Tesco’s Stewart becomes latest change in FTSE CFO list (sixteen and counting in 2020 or 2021)One of the odd features that characterised the FTSE 100 before the Covid-19 crisis was the number of chief executive (CEO) and chief financial officers (CFOs) leaving their posts. Tesco’s Alan Stewart has now added to this list as he prepares to retire as the grocer’s chief bean-counter on 30 April 2021, the first to plan his departure for next...
27 May 2020
FTSE 100 could be in for its biggest shake-up since 2009 as latest index shuffle loomsDespite their latest sharp rallies, easyJet and Carnival are still very likely to lose their FTSE 100 status in the latest quarterly reshuffle, thanks to the even bigger falls seen during the spring as their revenues dwindled to pretty much zero. Centrica and Meggitt also look destined for the drop, as their market capitalisations leave them ranked...
12 May 2020
Land Securities shares crumble as rents and asset values slideLand Securities’ shares are on the slide after its results and it is hard to work out what is upsetting investors more – the cancellation of the fourth quarter dividend; a £23 million provision against next year’s rental income; a drop in net tangible value per share that wipes out most of the increases seen in the previous five years or...
7 May 2020
BT shares back to 1984 levels as £3.3 billion in dividends blown awayA third dividend cut in its history means that BT is finally finding the combination of hefty debts, big pension deficit, tight regulation and stiff competition on multiple fronts, as chief executive Philip Jansen looks to prioritise the company’s spending on where it is most needed, including super-fast broadband to the home and fifth-generation...
1 May 2020
RBS rounds off a rotten week for the Big Five banksOne of the very few things that RBS’ first-quarter results have going for them is that it was the last bank of the Big Five to report, so their ability to shock or surprise was much more limited. The pattern of higher bad loan provisions, falling net interest margins and plunging profits had already been set by HSBC, Barclays, Standard Chartered...
30 April 2020
Shell shocks shareholders with a dividend cutPugnacious comments about how much cash and liquidity it had at hand in both of its March trading updates on the impact of COVID-19 on its operations had seemed to suggest that Shell, just like BP, was preparing to dig in and defend its dividend. But the combination of near-term concerns over weak oil prices and long-term worries over demand for...
29 April 2020
Product pipeline boosts AstraZeneca as drug giant seeks Covid-19 cureAstraZeneca is one of just 11 FTSE 100 firms whose shares have risen so far in 2020 and the pharmaceutical giant’s first-quarter results and full-year outlook help to explain why it is the sixth-best performer in the index so far this year. Sales rose 16% year-on-year, earnings per share handily beat forecasts on a stated and an adjusted basis and...
29 April 2020
Barclays’ investment bank does its best to prove its worthSurging loan loss provisions and plunging pre-tax profits are already losing their ability to shock investors, who are already familiar with these trends after the first quarter results from HSBC and the big US banks, so in this respect Barclays’ Q1 results feature no additional nasty surprises. Instead Barclays’ investment bank can take some...
28 April 2020
BP goes back to the future to defend its dividendBP’s $0.1050-a-share first-quarter dividend offers £1.7 billion of income to hard-pressed investors and the oil major’s cost reductions, cuts to capital investment, asset sales and higher borrowing harks back to 2015-16 when it last had to confront a major slump in prices for its products. That combination saw the company – and its dividend –...
27 April 2020
£8.4 billion in quarterly dividends from FTSE 100’s five biggest payers on the line this weekEven though the insurer’s decision to cancel its proposed 20.7p-per-share special dividend will be a blow, Admiral’s retention of its £166 million final, ordinary dividend for 2019 brings some comfort to income-seekers, especially as this means Monday is the seventh trading day in a row where the value of dividends confirmed matches or exceeds that...
24 April 2020
Asian stock markets show strength in adversityGlobal stock markets are still well down for the year, despite a big rally since late March, but two trends in the regional performance figures stand out: America’s ongoing world leadership and resilience in Asia. America’s continued outperformance may be less of a shock, given the amount of money that Congress and the US Federal Reserve are...
23 April 2020
How bad could loan losses get for the UK banks in Q1 (and beyond?)The FTSE All-Share Banks sector is down by 43% over the past year and it will be uncomfortable for holders of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered (as well as the challenger banks) to learn that this is some way worse than the 35% fall seen across the sector globally over the same time period. Just when it seemed their profits would...
21 April 2020
Clarkson drops clear hint that the oil tanker market is hitting top gearWhile the stunning collapse of the price of West Texas Intermediate oil for May delivery has got markets in a tizzy, shrewd investors will be looking to see if there is an angle for them and it may just come in the form of oil tankers.
If the black stuff cannot be stored on land then it will have to sit at sea or be slowly transported by water and...
15 April 2020
Just ten firms now forecast to pay two-thirds of FTSE 100's 2020 dividendsAs Smurfit Kappa and Ferguson decide to withhold their next scheduled dividend payments, no fewer than 32 members of the FTSE 100 have now moved to cut, suspend, defer or cancel a shareholder distribution and income investors are no doubt bracing themselves for further bad news.
But as income-seekers do their research as to what the yield on the...
14 April 2020
Stocks are rallying but gold is still leaving them in the dustAfter a huge rally, America’s S&P 500 index is up 23% from its lows and therefore back in bull market territory but it is those investors who have faith in gold (and gold miners) who are really starting to coin it. The precious metal has gone back above the $1,700-an-ounce mark, to recapture all of the ground it lost during the initial broad market...
8 April 2020
Insurers follow the banks by toeing the regulators’ line on dividendsThe FTSE 100’s Big Five banks dutifully cancelled £7.5 billion in dividend payments to shareholders last week as pressure from regulators to keep more capital on their balance sheets and now the insurance industry is following suit, after calls from the Prudential Regulatory Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority...
31 March 2020
Shell shows dividend determinationDividend cancellations from WPP and Smiths Group mean that thirteen FTSE 100 members have now decided to withhold £2.7 billion of payments for either 2019 or 2020 but Royal Dutch Shell seems determined that it will not add to the list.
Even though Brent crude oil is stuck near 17-year lows at $27 a barrel, the oil major’s trading statement provides...
25 March 2020
Why a period of calm would be a better sign for US equitiesWhile investors will be taking heart from Tuesday’s double-digit percentage rally in America’s S&P 500 index they will also be aware that such volatility does not usually call a market bottom. The day-to-day swings in the S&P 500 are currently exceeding those seen in the days and weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers on 15 September 2008 as...
25 March 2020
Why investors need to beware that rallies do not become bear trapsTuesday’s advance in the FTSE 100 was the index’s second-best individual day in its history in percentage terms and its best in both points and actual monetary value, bringing investors some welcome relief after a month-long drubbing. However, investors will still need to tread carefully. Six of the FTSE 100’s ten single-largest percentage daily...
24 March 2020
Secure Trust Bank’s dividend cut suggests Big Five may need to followVirgin Money UK suspended dividend payments late last year thanks to a final rush of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) compensation claims and Secure Trust Bank is now the first lender to pass its shareholder distribution thanks to concerns over the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment Director , and Kevin...
23 March 2020
Half a billion pounds of dividend cuts announced in one dayIt is another brutal day for income-seekers as ten more UK firms announce dividend cuts and an eleventh – Britvic – joins Next and National Express in reviewing its pay-out as part of its contingency planning.
The loss of income from today alone totals some £500 million and takes the running aggregate this year to some £1.5 billion, a big blow for...
18 March 2020
Gold keeps falling but it did the same in 2008 (and then look what happened)One of the most confusing features of the current market rout is gold’s failure to confirm its status as a haven asset during times of trouble. The precious metal is unchanged since the start of the year and is down by nearly 10% from the year high reached on 24 February when investors first began to sense that the COVID-19 was much more serious...
18 March 2020
More than £8bn assets now in suspended property fundsWith pricing uncertainty in the commercial property market, it was inevitable that funds would have to suspend. This is done to protect existing investors and stop investors who wish to sell redeeming at an artificially high price. So, while this will be hugely disconcerting for investors who are trapped in these funds, it’s important to remember...
17 March 2020
Investors start to look out for potential dividend cuts (and a four-step check list on how to spot them)The decision by both FTSE 250 member William Hill and AIM-quoted Shoe Zone to defer their dividend payments amid a downturn on trading may embolden other management teams who were considering this to take the difficult if potentially necessary decision. On paper the FTSE 100 is now offering a forward dividend yield of 6.5%, which looks like picking...
16 March 2020
Why markets are fretting the Federal Reserve is running out of ammunitionThe US Federal Reserve’s unscheduled half-point interest cut rate on 3 March provoked shock rather than awe as investors took fright that the American central bank – and its global counterparts – was running low on policy tools. Now the central bank has responded by cutting rates from 1.25% to zero and launching QE4, with the purchase of $700...
11 March 2020
The stock market winners and losers from Budget 2020Looking at the array of policies and initiatives introduced today from the very narrow perspective of the stock market, investors initially seemed mildly impressed – the FTSE 100 rose by around a third of a per cent during Mr Sunak one-hour speech, although the index had already shed all of the gains made thanks to the Bank of England’s emergency...
6 March 2020
Global airline stocks lose $41 billion of value in one monthAs investors try to work out what could be the short- and long-term impact of the COVID-19 outbreak upon the global economy, corporate profits and therefore share prices one sector in particular has taken a fearsome battering. The global airline sector’s market capitalisation has dropped by $40.6 billion, or 25%, in the last month alone. The sector...
1 March 2020
Worst week for UK stocks since global financial crisis and even gold is out of favourIt is official: last week was the worst week for the UK stock market since the global financial crisis. The FTSE 100 has dropped 11.1% (or 823 points) on the week to 6,580, the third worst weekly showing for the index since records began in 1984.
The worst was 19 to 23 October 1987 which saw Black Monday contribute to a one-week decline of 22%...
14 February 2020
RBS falls out of love with investment banking as it cuts profit targetsNot even the combination of a name change to NatWest Group, a meaty increase in the dividend and a laudable attempt to do its bit for the move toward a carbon-zero world can conceal how Royal Bank of Scotland’s profit outlook is a cautious one as the bank joins rival Barclays in pushing back when it hopes to meet its long-term profit goals.
RBS had...
11 February 2020
Bitcoin bears down on the $10,000 mark once moreAt a time when a FTSE 100 member’s shareholder list looks fake and shares in a fake meat company’s shares are sizzling again in the USA it is hardly a surprise that an alternative currency (or a fake one, depending on your viewpoint) seems to be coming back into vogue, as Bitcoin barrels back toward the $10,000 mark. Some may view this as another...
4 February 2020
BP shares welcome Dudley’s final flourish but new boss has much to doBP boss Bob Dudley steps down as the twelfth-longest serving CEO among the current crop of FTSE 100 bosses and investors appear to be giving him a warm send-off, as a share price rise welcomes the eighth increase in the quarterly dividend since he replaced Tony Hayward in autumn 2010. That hike in the dividend to 10.50cents ($0.1050) a quarter is...
29 January 2020
Apple hits the sweet spot with iPhone 11 (though you can find a few sour notes if you try hard enough)The contrast with a year ago could hardly be bigger. Apple’s first quarter results for 2018-19 followed on from a January profit warning and showed the first year-on-year drop in earnings per share for ten quarters. The results for the first three months of 2019-20 show the first revenue growth from the iPhone in five quarters, renewed sales and...
15 January 2020
FAANGs look to get back on the growth track in 2020In the past year the aggregate market capitalisation of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google’s parent Alphabet has gone up by 45%, or almost $1.3 trillion, even as combined consensus earnings estimates for 2019 and 2020 have fallen by 7% and 8%, or $10.7 billion and $9.6 billion respectively.
This combination of soaring share prices and...
7 January 2020
The case for and against US equities as Q4 reporting season approachesThis is already the longest-running US equity bull market in history and investors will be looking to the upcoming fourth-quarter reporting season for clues as to what 2020 may bring, especially as a further 8% advance from the S&P 500 would make this the biggest bull market of all, in terms of capital gains.
S&P 500 index Start Finish Duration...
7 January 2020
World Investment Outlook - Chapter one: UK PoliticsBrexit can already lay claim to the scalp of two Conservative Party Prime Ministers, in the form of David Cameron and Theresa May, although Boris Johnson’s General Election victory in December looks to reduce the chance of him becoming the third, at least in the very short term. Like him or loathe him, financial markets seemed pleased at...
7 January 2020
World Investment Outlook - Chapter two: USA PoliticsHard to believe as it may be, the November 2020 Presidential Election is not the biggest story in Washington, DC as the New Year begins. Instead, America’s capital is gripped by the impeachment proceedings brought by the Democratic Party against President Donald J. Trump, on two counts, relating to the so-called ‘Ukrainegate’ scandal –...
7 January 2020
World Investment Outlook – Chapter three: Japan PoliticsHe has made it. No sooner had Prime Minister Shinzō Abe overseen Japan’s successful stints as the host of both the G20 meeting in Osaka and the Rugby World Cup than he bagged another glittering prize. The Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) leader became his country’s longest-serving modern-time Prime Minister in mid-November 2019.
With this...
7 January 2020
World Investment Outlook – Chapter four: Asia PoliticsHard to believe as it may be, Hong Kong found a way of upstaging even the trade tensions between America and China and the further cooling of relations between Japan and Korea in 2019. The Occupy Central movement wrote the headlines for most of the second half of 2019 as Hong Kong residents protested against a law introduced by Hong Kong...
7 January 2020
World Investment Outlook – Chapter five: Western Europe PoliticsThe year 2019 began with Donald Tusk, the outgoing President of the European Council, saying that he thought there would be a “special place in hell for those who promoted Brexit without even the sketch of a plan”.
Relations with the UK could remain tense for some years to come but Britain is not on its own in this respect. The EU’s...
7 January 2020
World Investment Outlook – Chapter six: Emerging Markets PoliticsRussia remains the subject of certain EU (and American) economic sanctions and Ukraine remains a bone of contention in more ways than one. Eastern Europe’s influence could go global in 2020 because Ukraine’s President - Volodymyr Zelensky, a former actor and comedian who created a show about a fictional leader of his country - is embroiled...
27 December 2019
The best and worst performing global stock markets in 2019The best performers in 2019 have been Russia, Greece and Dubai-Kuwait, with Brazil, Italy and America next in line. The US represents almost two-thirds of global market capitalisation so a 27.4% gain from its stock market, as benchmarked by the S&P 500 index, helped the FTSE All-World to rise by more than a fifth during the course of the year.
It...
20 December 2019
Best and worst performers in the FTSE 100 in 2019The FTSE 100 may have confounded a few doubters with a 17.2% total return in 2019 (including the reinvestment of dividends), despite concerns over weak economic growth, Brexit and the December general election.
Sceptics will counter by pointing out that the UK still underperformed on the global stage, lagging the FTSE All-World’s total return by...
17 December 2019
Why the FTSE 100 has a chance to challenge 8,000 in 2020The FTSE 100 is barely any higher than three years ago and the pound is still way below where it was in summer 2016, so it is relatively easy for value-seeking contrarians to make a case for a UK stock market which has underperformed, feels unloved (judging by fund flow data) and looks potentially undervalued on the basis of earnings and yield. As...
13 December 2019
Stocks, bonds and sterling react as markets hope for break in Brexit deadlockMarkets had been taking their lead from the opinion polls and pricing in a clear-cut victory for the Conservative Party and that is what they have got. I have even heard some psephologists assert the Tories have won their largest percentage of the vote since 1970 – which is some ways is pretty ironic, as in 1970 the Conservative leader and winner...
11 December 2019
FTSE 100 earnings forecast momentum falters as election draws near and sterling ralliesThe FTSE 100 got tantalisingly close in July to its May 2018 all-time high of 7,877 but it failed to kick on and one reason why was that corporate profit forecasts have started to trickle lower, hindered by weaker commodity prices, a sluggish domestic economy and the pound’s late-year rally. Since the start of the year, pre-tax income forecasts for...
16 October 2019
How to value Saudi AramcoAfter more than two years in the planning, reports suggest that Saudi Arabia is about to press the button for the initial public offering of its state-owned oil firm, Saudi Aramco. Institutional investors will therefore have to weigh up the pros and cons of the deal and decide whether the investment case is sufficiently strong and the valuation is...
4 October 2019
Dudley helps BP overcome deadly legacyWhile he will probably be disappointed with BP’s share price performance during his nine-year tenure as the oil major’s CEO, Bob Dudley will be able to look back and argue that he got three important things right.
He increased the company’s focus on safety and worked to improve BP’s reputation in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster. He...
3 October 2019
Is the WeWork fiasco a warning of wider market volatility ahead?Wednesday’s 3.2% fall in the FTSE 100 is getting the new month off to a bad start and it may prompt some investors to think of the comment made by Mark Twain’s character Pudd’nhead Wilson: ‘October: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June...
