magazine archive
magazine archive
Feature
The future of money: how AI is transforming finance
Thursday 05 Jun 2025Mark Gardner Award for Journalism This award was set up in memory of Mark Gardner, a member of the AJ Bell Media Team who sadly passed away in 2022. Well done to University of Salford student Emily Trelfa who took the £5,000 prize associated with the award – a sum which was supplemented...
Book Review: ‘The Meaningful Money Retirement Guide’, by Pete Matthew
Thursday 05 Jun 2025The bookshelves are full of classic books on investing, some of which we have reviewed in these pages, as well as plenty of books of the ‘How I made a million trading from my sofa’ type, which is not our forte, but we haven’t come across many which focus specifically on retirement and how to...
Dividend growth stars: The companies boosting returns to shareholders
Thursday 05 Jun 2025In an environment where share prices have been volatile, focusing on dividends and those companies which can grow their dividend over time has real merit. The fact these businesses feel confident enough to increase their generosity to shareholders and, in the first place, have the financial...
Why Wickes could be just the job for growth and income seekers
Thursday 05 Jun 2025Warm Easter holiday weather boosted seasonal sales of outdoor and gardening products and encouraged consumers to get out and spend on ‘big-ticket’ projects. Among the beneficiaries was DIY chain Wickes (WIX) , where revenue grew 6.9% in the 17 weeks to 26 April 2025. The specialty retailer...
Exploring the relationship between emerging markets and the dollar
Thursday 29 May 2025A strong dollar is typically a problem for emerging markets and, conversely, when the US currency is relatively weak it is a positive. As the chart shows the inverse correlation (one goes up when the other falls and vice versa) between the Dixie – the US dollar index which measures its value...
Emerging Markets: outperforming developed world shares, Mexico and Korea
Thursday 29 May 20251 . Emerging markets (EMs) outperformance: EMs have outperformed global equities year-to-date, with a number of factors driving gains, including US dollar weakness, domestic demand opportunities and policy flexibility. EM equities have historically outperformed global equities during periods of US...
The weight loss war: Who is winning out between Novo-Nordisk and Eli Lilly?
Thursday 29 May 2025If a picture can tell a thousand words, a share price chart of Novo Nordisk (NOVOB-B:CPH) versus Eli Lilly (LLY:NYSE) strongly suggests the US firm is well ahead in the race to dominate the market for weight loss drugs, which analysts predict could be worth $150 billion per year by 2030. Over the...
Small World: cobalt, beauty products and seaweed feature in our latest round-up of smaller companies
Thursday 29 May 2025In what could be one of the biggest listings of the year, Cobalt Holdings – a company set up to buy and hold cobalt, as its name suggests – said it intended to float in London next month through a $230 million issue of new equity partly underwritten by mining giant Glencore (GLEN) . The company,...
Unpicking what the new Mansion House Accord means for pension savers
Thursday 22 May 2025Although it was overshadowed by president Trump’s latest tariff climb-down, the recent updated Mansion House Accord – backed by the PLSA (Pension and Lifetime Savings Association), the ABI (Association of British Insurers) and the City of London Corporation – was a key moment for UK financial...
Is Apple ex-growth? What it means if the days of rapid expansion are over
Thursday 22 May 2025Is it now time to start thinking the unthinkable – that while undoubtedly still an exceptional company, Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) is no longer an exceptional stock? For example, most investors would probably view British American Tobacco (BAT) or Nike (NKE:NYSE) as high quality companies, yet their...