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 February 2016
How to prepare for financial market volatilityBy 12 February, the FTSE 100 had risen or fallen by more than 1% from open to close on 19 trading days out of 30. That was the most in any year going back to at least 1995 and the only years which come close to this year’s figure are 2000 and 2008.They saw 16 and 14 such movements respectively by 12 February and unfortunately neither of those years...
15 February 2016
How crude calculations continue to influence marketsStock markets remain rocky and very few asset classes are providing any shelter from the storm – Government bond yields are compressing as prices rise, the yen is trying to go higher and gold has rallied strongly after five years in the doldrums as some investors start to follow the yellow brick road, as it were.
Yet the only commodity really...
4 February 2016
How to look for a port in a monetary stormAnd so the good ship Central Bank sails deeper into uncharted waters. A mere one week after denying such measures would be required, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda late last month oversaw a cut in Japanese interest rates from 0.1% to minus 0.1%.
This leaves Japan in the same company as Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, all of whom already...
2 February 2016
What next for Lloyds after Osborne delays share saleChancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has surprised the markets by postponing the proposed sale of the Government’s final 9% stake in Lloyds, which had been slated for the spring.
The Chancellor cited market volatility, which has left Lloyds’ share price around the 65p mark at the time of writing, well below the Government’s average purchase...
1 February 2016
How to prepare for a bear market (just in case)At the time of writing, the FTSE All-Share index stands as 3,235, down 16% from its April 2015 high of 3,834, right on the brink of “bear market” territory, which is defined as a fall of 20% from the top.
While this may not sound like fun, it could be worse. China, Germany, Italy, Russia, Brazil, Hong Kong and America’s leading small-cap index, the...
21 January 2016
A five-point checklist to see when markets may hit the bottomGlobal stock and commodity markets have had a torrid start to the year, while currency markets remain volatile and only Government bonds, the yen and gold have offered any comfort at all.
The task facing every investor now is to step back from the day-to-day noise and work out whether stocks have further to fall or whether this is a chance to buy...
14 January 2016
Five themes that could set the tone in 2016After last week’s attempts to learn key lessons from 2015, 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 need to think about when it comes to portfolio strategy in 2016 and beyond.
They are
Oil will...
7 January 2016
Five key themes from 2015 that could influence 2016There can be no denying 2015 was an eventful year, even if it left investors in mainstream stocks or bonds, or mainstream stock and bond funds, little better off at the end than they were at the start.
It began with the Swiss National Bank’s decision to break the Swiss franc’s peg to the euro (which prompted the Swiss counter to soar, cleaning out...
22 December 2015
How to be a successful income investor in 2016The US Federal Reserve’s decision to move headline American interest rates higher for the first time in nearly 10 years begs three important questions:
First, what will the degree and pace of any further increments be? Second, will the Bank of England start to follow suit and increase returns on cash here? Third, what are the implications for...
17 December 2015
How to get the lowdown on diggers and drillers for 2016As we approach the end of 2015, the FTSE 100 is down by 8% to 10%, weighed down by two sectors in particular – oil and mining.
Fellow heavyweights pharmaceuticals and banks have hardly covered themselves in glory either, with declines of 6% and 19% this year but those efforts look good compared to the diggers and drillers.
As 15 December, the FTSE...
