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 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%...
