Ryan Hughes is AJ Bell's Managing Director of AJ Bell Investments. He joined AJ Bell in 2016 as Head of Fund Selection before moving on to become Head of Investment Partnerships and later, Investments Director.
Ryan started his career in 1999 working as a Financial Adviser before moving into investment research. He spent eight years as a Senior Fund Manager at Skandia Investment Group, where he was a member of their Investment Committee and Global Asset Allocation Committee. Before coming to AJ Bell, he was working as a Fund Manager and Discretionary Portfolio Manager for a leading global investment management firm, Apollo Multi Asset Management.
He's responsible for all elements across AJ Bell Investments solutions including the fund range, managed portfolio service (MPS) solutions and bespoke managed portfolio services for advisers. Ryan is also responsible for the oversight of the investment research process.
Ryan is regularly asked to judge industry awards and provide commentary on key industry events as an expert voice. He has appeared on TV, radio and national newspapers for more than 20 years. He has a degree in Business Studies from The University of the West of England and wrote his university dissertation on the topic of ethical investments in the 1990s - long before it was fashionable like it is today!
9 September 2026
What to know about thematic ETFs before adding them to your portfolioThematic ETFs ( exchange-traded funds) have popped up from investment providers left and right in the past few years, launching products that mirror the headlines: a flurry of Defence ETFs after governments announced increased defence spending, and AI ETFs as ChatGPT excitement bubbled. But these products' strengths can just as quickly be their...
14 May 2026
Why invest in income funds (even when you don’t need income)For those investors who are still focused on growing their wealth instead of spending, an income focused fund might intuitively seem like the wrong choice. However, despite the name, income funds can act as an important diversifier for a portfolio with a main goal of growth.
In this context, we aren’t talking about the version of a fund you choose...
25 March 2026
You might not be as diversified as you thinkIf you’ve been keeping an eye on your investments in the past few weeks, you may have experienced a nasty shock. Despite all the work you’ve put into creating a diversified portfolio, the market turmoil of March may have put a dent in your investments.
This isn’t a reason to panic. Even well diversified portfolios aren’t immune to falls in the...
26 November 2025
How to rebalance your portfolioHaving a balanced portfolio is a widely accepted strategy for creating solid returns for your investments without taking too much risk.
The goal of balancing a portfolio is simple: create a diversified portfolio that isn’t overly exposed to any single element, so you can ride out market dips with a little less stress. But how exactly to go about...
30 October 2025
The golden rules of investingThe market is always changing, with developments around new products, innovation, and geopolitics to consider. But interestingly, the behaviours that lead to successful investing have looked very similar throughout the years.
These behaviours are just as important for someone that’s been investing for 30 years as they are for a first-time investor...
14 November 2024
AJ Bell reduces charges on multi-asset income rangeAJ Bell has reduced the ongoing charges for its multi-asset income funds, the VT AJ Bell Income Fund and VT AJ Bell Income & Growth Fund. The annual charges, previously 0.65%, have been cut by 15 basis points to 0.50%, effective as of 1 November this year.
The funds have demonstrated strong performance since their launch in March 2019, with the VT...
18 January 2024
AJ Bell funds rebalancingThe AJ Bell funds are managed by the team at AJ Bell Investments, with one aim: helping you invest. We look after the funds, and make the daily decisions to keep your money working hard for you.
That means, from time to time, we’ll make updates to the funds in response to differing market conditions. In this article, we’ll take you through the...
24 July 2023
Investment Trust - July 2023 update What is the AJ Bell Investment Trust Select list?The AJ Bell Investment Trust Select list is designed to lighten your research load. There are hundreds of investment trusts out there – so we’ve narrowed the field by selecting a high-quality shortlist of trusts we believe can deliver on their objectives over the long-term. To make the list, each...
24 July 2023
Favourite funds update - July 2023 What is the AJ Bell Favourite funds list?The AJ Bell Favourite funds list is designed to lighten your research load. There are thousands of funds out there – so we’ve narrowed the field by selecting a high-quality shortlist of funds we believe can deliver their objectives over the long term. To make the list, each fund needs to pass our robust...
30 June 2023
Investment Trust Select list update - June 2023 What is the AJ Bell Investment Trust Select list?The AJ Bell Investment Trust Select list is designed to lighten your research load. There are hundreds of investment trusts out there – so we’ve narrowed the field by selecting a high-quality shortlist of trusts we believe can deliver on their objectives over the long-term. To make the list, each...
