magazine archive
magazine archive
Education
How money market funds work and the role they can play in a portfolio
Thursday 17 Apr 2025Investors have flocked to money market funds in recent years, attracted by the high rates on offer, reflecting the sharp rise in official interest rates since 2022. Despite the Bank of England cutting base rates from a peak of 5.25% in August 2024, the current 4.5% rate is relatively high compared...
Discover how owning ‘defensive’ stocks can help your long-term returns
Thursday 13 Feb 2025You often hear the word ‘defensive’ applied to certain stocks and sectors, but what does it mean and can buying ‘defensive’ stocks really help your performance as an investor? In a word, yes, because they dial down some of the risk which is inherent in markets because they tend not to be very...
How to use the X-Ray tool to keep your investments on track
Thursday 09 Jan 2025Staying on top of your investments is important if you want to make a success out of putting your money to work in the financial markets. A useful tool, created for this purpose, is the Morningstar Portfolio X-Ray which is available to AJ Bell customers. It’s particularly helpful in determining if...
Everything you need to know about dividends (but were afraid to ask)
Thursday 31 Oct 2024A dividend is quite simply a portion of a company’s earnings distributed to its investors. In the UK most companies pay two ordinary dividends per year, one at the half-way stage (the interim or first-half dividend) and one at the end of the year (the final dividend). Some UK firms pay quarterly...
Why managing risk well is the ultimate goal for top investors
Thursday 10 Oct 2024One of the most important things in investing is risk management. Howard Marks, co-founder of high-yield bond firm Oaktree Capital Management, believes managing risk is the ultimate test of an investor’s skill. In this feature we explore the nature of risk, which may surprise you, and reveal how...
How to navigate the impact of major milestones to reach your investment goals
Thursday 03 Oct 2024This is the third and final part of our mini-series on portfolio construction where we discuss some key life milestones and how they can impact investment plans and portfolios. Managing a portfolio of investments should be a dynamic process which evolves with changing life circumstances, goals, age...
Keeping on top of your portfolio is easier than you think
Thursday 26 Sep 2024This is the second article in our mini-series covering portfolio construction. It is focused on how to manage and maintain a portfolio. Once a balanced portfolio has been constructed and is up and running, for some investors, there may be a temptation to tinker. It is therefore worth reiterating...
Understanding EBITDA and its pros and cons
Thursday 08 Aug 2024It’s fair to say earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA for short) is not universally popular as a measure of earnings. It has some notably high-profile detractors in the form of Warren Buffett and his late business partner Charlie Munger. Munger even crudely observed...
Why investors should focus on ROCE and ROIC
Thursday 01 Aug 2024Investors looking to put money to work with a company for the long term often employ fundamental analysis, which involves scrutinising financial metrics and analysing financial statements to help them understand how fundamentally strong a company is. While profit margins are a solid indicator of a...
How do ISAs stack up against pensions as investment vehicles
Thursday 11 Jul 2024There are two main vehicles for protecting returns from your investments and savings from HMRC: ISAs and pensions. In this article we go back to basics and discuss how these two, sometimes referred to as tax wrappers, can be used by savers and investors and consider the advantages and disadvantages...