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.
25 January 2018
All hail the declining dollarThe American politician John Connally packed a lot into his life, including a rare switch from the Democratic to the Republican Party, but he is best known for two things.
First, he was sat in the same limousine as John F. Kennedy when America’s thirty-fifth President was assassinated in Dealey Plaza, Dallas Texas in November 1963.
Second, as...
17 January 2018
Are hopes for a tax-cut boost to US corporate earnings simply (American) pie in the sky?All four leading US stock market indices – Dow Jones Industrials, S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 – all racked up a string of record closing highs in 2017 and one key reason for this was what, ultimately, became President Trump’s first major piece of Capitol-Hill-approved legislation, namely December’s Tax and Jobs Act.
The tax changes...
10 January 2018
How to judge whether it is time to follow – or go against – the crowdWith the FTSE 100 trading above 7,700 and the FTSE All-Share also setting new highs just under the 4,250 mark, investors are off to a good start in 2018 and momentum seems to be on their side.
The FTSE 100 and FTSE All-Share have both begun 2018 on an all-time highSource: Thomson Reuters Datastream
However, the crushings handed out to Debenhams...
3 January 2018
Three sectors to keep an eye on in 2018After ending 2017 on a hot streak, with a string of consecutive closing record highs, the FTSE 100 stands above 7,600 and sits within barely 5% of the 8,000 mark.
FTSE 100 set a run of new all-time record highs at the turn of the yearSource: Thomson Reuters Datastream
This naturally begs the question of whether this momentum can be maintained...
20 December 2017
Five themes that look set to shape portfolio returns in 2018After last week’s attempts to learn key lessons from 2017, this column will now turn its attention to the year ahead. In the (unfortunate) absence of a crystal ball, no promises or guarantees can be offered, but below are five themes which investors will need to think about when it comes to portfolio strategy in 2018 and beyond.
They are:
Central...
14 December 2017
Five themes from 2017 that could influence 2018There can be no denying 2017 was an eventful year and making money was not entirely straightforward, even allowing for Bitcoin’s surge into the stratosphere. Bonds generally struggled, commodities were mixed and equities provided the best returns, albeit with very wide performance gaps between the best and the worst geographies, sectors and stocks...
8 December 2017
Why commodities’ stale performance looks odd in 2017One intriguing trend of note this year is the turgid performance of the Bloomberg Commodities index, a basket of 22 raw materials, encompassing energy, industrial metals, precious metals, and agricultural commodities, ranging from grains to crops to livestock.
The Bloomberg Commodities index has meandered even as the Baltic Dry index has steamed...
7 December 2017
World Investment Outlook - Chapter one: UKMarch 2019 is drawing ever nearer but the Brexit picture is still unclear, even after Prime Minister Theresa May’s intervention in the Brussels-based negotiations with her September speech in Florence.
November’s talks between David Davis, British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, and Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for...
7 December 2017
World Investment Outlook - Chapter two: USAIt is hard to believe but President Donald J. Trump will be almost half way through his first term in office by November 2018, when he will face a test that may give a clue as to whether this will be his only four-year stint in the White House.
Americans in 36 states and three territories will be voting for their State Governors. More pertinently...
7 December 2017
World Investment Outlook - Chapter three: JapanWith the Nikkei 225 and Topix stock benchmarks touching twenty-year peaks, the yen rising against the dollar and the economy putting together its best streak of quarterly GDP increases for a decade investors could be forgiven that everything in the Japanese garden is rosy.
The Nikkei 225 ended 2017 with a powerful run, aided and abetted by Prime...
