Tom Selby is AJ Bell's Director of Public Policy. He joined the company in 2016 as a Senior Analyst before becoming Head of Retirement Policy. He has a degree in Economics from Newcastle University.
Following his degree, Tom worked for seven years as a journalist specialising in pensions and retirement. He spent almost six years at a leading adviser trade magazine, Money Marketing, initially as a pensions reporter before becoming Head of News in 2014. He has won multiple awards for his role as a financial journalist, and was more recently nominated for Expert of the Year at the 2023 Headlinemoney Awards.
Tom is heavily involved with the PR and external communications teams at AJ Bell. His current role involves direct engagement with senior policy makers in Government and regulators. He also sits on the industry working group for the joint review of advice and guidance boundaries being conducted by the FCA and the Treasury. In the past, Tom has successfully campaigned for a number of consumer-focused reforms, including banning pension cold-calling and increasing pension allowances, and he is passionate about improving outcomes for savers and retirees.
Tom is regularly quoted in national print and broadcast media, including appearances on a weekly BBC Radio London personal finance slot. He has also appeared multiple times on BBC’s MoneyBox as an expert, as well as BBC Radio, BBC News, Sky News and LBC.
6 September 2016
Property funds saga – where are we now?A swathe of post-Brexit vote property fund suspensions in June and July frayed the nerves of investors, with some commentators drawing doomsday comparisons with the Great Financial Crisis of 2007/08. After all, commercial property was one of the first asset classes to feel the strain six years ago as the global financial system creaked under the...
31 August 2016
Shifting pensions landscapeWhen former Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to allow savers aged 55 and over unfettered access to their pension pot from April 2015, nobody was quite sure how people would react. Could they be tempted to splurge their retirement pot on flash cars? Or would they pause for thought and consider the implications a spending spree would have on...
18 August 2016
The pension transfer advice conundrumThe pension freedoms have reshaped the UK’s retirement landscape and opened up a plethora of retirement planning opportunities and risks. The reforms, introduced in April 2015, have proved hugely popular, with savers accessing billions of pounds flexibly and annuity sales plummeting.
However, while the majority of those over the age of 55 in...
10 August 2016
Is now the worst time in history to retire?Bank of England governor Mark Carney last week unveiled a series of “big bazooka” monetary policy stimuli designed to breathe life into the ailing UK economy.
In simple terms, the package of measures – a 25 basis point rate cut, injection of quantitative easing and access to cheap funding for banks – are designed to get people spending rather than...
28 July 2016
What does end of ‘golden era’ of equity returns mean for pension investors?Most of today’s investors have lived through a ‘golden era’ of equity returns that is about to come to a shuddering halt.
So argues an influential report by global consultancy McKinsey, which warns anyone looking to build a retirement pot over the next 20 years will need to do more of the legwork themselves, rather than relying on the stockmarket...
28 June 2016
What does Brexit mean for your finances?While the dust is unlikely to settle for months following Friday’s shock EU referendum result, you may be anxious about what all this uncertainty means for your retirement plans.
In these turbulent times, it is important not to make panic decisions based on speculation or rumour. The political and economic landscape may be febrile, but any attempt...
15 June 2016
Brexit: separating pension fact from fictionThe stakes could not be higher ahead of the EU referendum on 23rd June. It’s therefore unsurprising to see the claims and counter claims of both the Leave and Remain camps ramping up as the vote draws ever closer.
But how much can you actually believe from these fighting cabals of desperate politicians and campaigners? Let’s have a look at some of...
13 June 2016
Five personal implications of a BrexitMost independent economic analysis suggests that leaving the EU will be detrimental to the UK economy. Whilst this is not certain, a Brexit would definitely be a leap into the unknown and that ambiguity would likely result in short term economic instability.
Tom Selby, Senior Analyst at AJ Bell looks at how this economic instability could filter...
25 May 2016
What you need to know before trading in your annuityGeorge Osborne’s radical pension freedoms are set to be extended to millions of people who have already bought an annuity from April next year.
However, a combination of strict regulatory controls, high costs and uncertainty over who will actually buy annuities means the future of the market is anything but clear.
So what do you need to consider...
