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.
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...
