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.
17 November 2023
Price increases offset falling volumes as Imperial Brands delivers dividend growthThe shares may not be doing much in response to Imperial Brands’ full-year results, but the figures contain a lot that is good news if you are an income investor (less so if you are an ethical investor). Higher prices are offsetting the relentless decline in cigarette volumes, cash flow is strong and the dividend is up.
The fat dividend yield and...
9 November 2023
Do markets need to care about who the next US President could be?It is a year to the sixtieth US Presidential Election, on 5 November 2024, and although financial markets are more concerned right now about US Federal Reserve policy, inflation and events in the Middle East, they will soon start to take a keener interest in the race to the White House.
A repeat of 2020’s Biden-Trump contest is on the cards...
3 November 2023
Big banks remain unloved after third-quarter reporting seasonAlthough HSBC is ending the FTSE 100 megabanks’ third-quarter results season with a flourish in the form of its third share buyback of the year, lukewarm figures or cautious outlooks on lending margins (or both) from Standard Chartered, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds mean the big lenders remain unloved,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
...
13 October 2023
Why markets will be hoping the latest Middle Eastern conflict is not a replay of the 1970sThere are so many more important things to consider than financial markets when a war breaks out, but central bankers, economists and investors could be forgiven for keeping an eye on the oil price in particular, while they hope for a speedy and peaceful resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
There have been...
6 October 2023
Dividend growth still expected but forecasts for 2023 and 2024 slip lowerAt the time of writing, markets expect the Bank of England base rate to peak at 5.50%, with the first cut expected in the second half of 2024, although the two-year gilt yield of 4.87% suggests the bond market is far from sure that the Monetary Policy Committee has the courage of its convictions.
Nevertheless, investors look to cash or sovereign...
6 October 2023
FTSE 100 readies for its fortieth birthday with twenty-six founder members still in the indexThe FTSE 100 launched on 3 January 1984, to replace the FT-30, and the stock market benchmark’s make up has changed a lot since then. With one more quarterly reshuffle to come before its fortieth birthday, just fourteen founder members are still in the index and still using the very same name, while twelve more are still part of UK plc’s corporate...
27 September 2023
AG Barr gets a boost from new and old brands alikeScotland’s AG Barr may be best known for its iconic Irn-Bru drink, but the FTSE 250 firm continues to develop its product range and its first-half results show the benefits, as sales of mixers, juices, energy drinks and oat milk are all contributing to higher sales and profits.
Management is sanctioning a hike in the dividend, too, as AG Barr took...
7 September 2023
Is it worth paying an arm and a leg for ARM?The price range set by Softbank and its army of bankers and advisers for ARM of $47 to $51 a share implies a total market capitalisation for the business of $47 billion to $51 billion (since it has a billion shares in issue) with its $2 billion net cash pile on top. That gives an enterprise value (EV), or total value for the business of $49 billion...
10 August 2023
Bellway shares refuse to crumble despite weak outlookReservation rates are down sharply, the order book is also down sharply, prices are no longer going up and completions are expected to go down in the coming year, but shares in Bellway are holding firm despite the gloomy outlook statement that accompanies the housebuilder’s latest trading update.
Analysts are cutting their profit forecasts for the...
13 July 2023
Dividend growth still expected in 2023 despite stalling profit forecastsAfter the index’s brief flirtation with the 8,000 mark, the FTSE 100 is trading no higher than it did in summer 2017. A forecast yield of 4.1% for 2023 (and 4.4% for 2024) offers some compensation, although these figures are no longer as eye-catching as they once were, when inflation was low and interest rates anchored at all-time lows of 0.1% for...
