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.
13 March 2015
Why banks are still too big to ignoreBanks continue to make the headlines and not necessarily for the right reasons. Lloyds may have pleased investors by reinitiating dividends after a gap stretching all the way back to 2008's interim payment but earnings figures were generally disappointing and the sector has lagged the FTSE All-Share over the past year, as if to suggest the market...
6 March 2015
Watch how sentiment could sway the marketsWhile the FTSE 100's advance toward and then beyond its 1999 all-time high of 6,930 continues to attract headlines, another famous benchmark is making a dash to reach its own prior peak, reached fifteen years ago almost to the day. The NASDAQ Composite topped out at 5,048 on 10 March 2000 and at the time of writing America's technology-laden...
27 February 2015
Become a convert to the income causeWhile the majority of clients and advisers may have little time for dealing with the intricacies of stock-specific research the dividend cut announced by FTSE 100 Centrica earlier this month (19 February) is unlikely to have passed by unnoticed.
The company's new chief executive, Iain Conn, who only took the reins from Sam Laidlaw in January...
20 February 2015
Why China's central bank may hold sway in the Year of the SheepPicking the right asset class, individual geographic market and the right funds or stocks to play that choice is not just about finding the best economic growth. Nowhere exemplifies this better than China.
Despite a 140% increase in GDP in absolute, local currency terms over the past seven years, the Shanghai Composite languishes some 46% below its...
13 February 2015
Income-seekers must face the duration testThe latest figures from independent consultant ETFGI which show cash barrelling into fixed income Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) serve to confirm the scramble for income remains as acute as ever. The data reveal net global flows of $13.3 billion in January to the third largest month on record for the asset class.
Equities suffered outflows while...
6 February 2015
Three key themes stay centre stageAs oil and equity prices flip flop around, the logical conclusion is markets are confused as to whether they should be focussing on growth, fretting about the implications of interest rate rises or panicking about the threat of a deflationary, debt-sodden downturn.
Soft commodity price weakness and declines in emerging market equities, bonds and...
27 January 2015
How to stay safe in the search for incomeMarkets remain fixated by the European Central Bank's (ECB) decision to launch a Quantitative Easing (QE) programme last Thursday (22 January) and the results of the Greek general election (25 January). The events look interconnected anyway, as the timing of the ECB's policy shift leaves it with scope to keep markets sweet by using any bond...
23 January 2015
Central banks' efforts to call the tune hit a bum noteThe markets continue to digest the implications of last week's decision by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to stop interfering in currency markets and let the Swiss franc find its own level against the euro. That move, more than three years in the coming, is still roiling the forex industry, at a time when commodity markets are still in flux, bond...
16 January 2015
Be wary of the corporate cheerleadersThere are many different schools of thought when it comes to investing. Some portfolio builders prefer to go with the flow and follow momentum in share prices, earnings forecasts or perhaps a combination of the two. Others are happier going against the crowd in search of value which they believe will emerge once a catalyst appears to change market...
9 January 2015
Start spreading the newsAs stocks begin 2015 with a whimper and bond prices rally yet further, markets seem newly preoccupied with the twin threats of a growth shock and deflation. This already puts the bullish consensus on shares and bearish one on fixed-income firmly on the back foot, as the optimism caused by the non-event of the last Federal Reserve meeting (17-18...
