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.
16 November 2016
Welcome to a brave new world (or not, as the case may be)It is tempting to give the blame (or the credit) to The Donald, but the market shift in sentiment away from deflation towards inflation, away from bonds and toward equities and away from ‘expensive’ defensives and yield plays toward cyclical and recovery stories can be traced back to a different ballot – 24 June and the EU referendum result in the...
27 October 2016
A market signal that can be taken on trustThe first ever investment trust was founded in 1868 and Foreign & Colonial has traded through to this day, with sufficient success to establish itself as a member of the FTSE 250.
Their long history and also the method in which they trade mean these pooled investment companies can be useful ways of both judging the market, and accessing it. They...
20 October 2016
A four-step method to check markets’ healthThe FTSE 100’s dash to a new intra-day all time high of 7,130 in early October may remain a source of bafflement to many investors, given the prevailing uncertainties in the UK across a range of issues, including monetary policy, the wider economy and Brexit.
Yet the UK market’s ability to climb a wall of worry is quite typical behaviour and it...
14 October 2016
Sterling’s slide to help decide the winners and losers Unilever’s clash with Tesco over the price of Marmite, ice-cream and other household products brings the issue of the pound’s decline and its possible impact into stark relief but the markets were already on a state of high alert.
Both the supermarket spat and early October’s split-second plummet in the pound to $1.18, its lowest level against...
11 October 2016
What now for Lloyds as retail share offer withdrawnIn early October, while on a trip to the USA, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced that the Government would again try to sell its final 9% stake in the Lloyds Banking Group. This immediately drove the shares down 4% and left private investors with a dilemma, as Hammond made it clear they would not be given chance to participate in...
6 October 2016
Is the oil rally for real?A series of drops in US oil inventories and the announcement that OPEC’s late-September Algerian summit could lead to production cuts are boosting the oil price, which is back above $50 a barrel.
This is good news for any investors with oil exposure in their portfolio, either directly or indirectly, and may even benefit the whole UK equity market.
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30 September 2016
Why Brexit is bringing unexpected benefits to UK equities (at least for now)Taken in aggregate, profit and dividend forecasts can give a feel for whether one equity market looks cheap or expensive relative to another, or relative to its own history. In addition, momentum in aggregate earnings dividend forecasts can help to shape sentiment toward a particular market, at least in the short term – in its crudest form, rising...
15 September 2016
What to do with your ARM windfallThe £24.3 billion, cash only acquisition of UK microchip designer ARM by Japan's Softbank was officially sealed on 5th September, removing a high quality technology company from the UK stock market.
If you were one of the lucky investors who have put money into this British technology success story via your pension or ISAs you are likely to have...
15 September 2016
Why the latest bond market wobble mattersA sell-off in global stocks on Friday 9 September – the most violent move in either direction for a good couple of months – was swiftly put down to a sell-off in global bonds. That fixed-income frenzy was in turn attributed to hawkish comments from a pair of US Federal Reserve officials, Eric Rosengren of Boston and Federal Reserve Board member...
14 September 2016
What to look for in the final furlongs of 2016Any investors who followed the old market maxim “Sell In May” will be cursing, as equity, bond and commodity markets generally look and feel bouncy after a summer of gains.
Anyone with money in property funds may grimace a little, although Legal & General UK Property Fund is now removing its downward “fair value” adjustment to its portfolio, amid...
