AJ Bell Money & Markets

Budget special: tax cuts, pros and cons of the new British ISA, and good news for parents

This week’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast examines what the UK government’s latest Budget means for you and your money.

Danni Hewson considers the OBR’s new economic forecasts and the market reaction to the Budget.

Dan Coatsworth explores the new British ISA, how it might work and why it is not the perfect solution to getting more people interested in investing and supporting UK businesses.

Pensions news was thin on the ground in the Budget but Charlene Young has found some nuggets worth digesting.

Also on the podcast: good news for parents looking for help meeting the cost of childcare and changes to capital gains tax on the sale of second homes.

The team also discuss how the UK government has confirmed plans to push ahead with the sale of its stake in NatWest by summer at the earliest.

Investment trust show #2. What to do if a fund manager underperforms, getting under the bonnet of Nick Train’s Finsbury Growth & Income, and why so many trusts are merging

Welcome to the second in a new series of bonus podcasts from the AJ Bell Money & Markets team all about investment trusts.

Published at the start of each month, the bonus podcast features a range of topics with investment experts and fund managers, with each episode debating some of the most popular trusts with retail investors, the big topics that matter, and a little bit of educational material to get listeners up to speed. This episode focuses on underperforming fund managers and mergers.

Should you pay a fund manager to try and outperform or use a low-cost tracker fund that simply follows the market and doesn’t try to beat it? It’s a key conundrum for investors, particularly as many big-name fund managers have lagged the market in recent years. Dan Coatsworth debates this topic with Stuart Gray, co-portfolio manager at Alliance Trust.

Nick Train-managed Finsbury Growth & Income is among the trusts that have underperformed over the past three years so Ian Conway and Steven Frazer from Shares magazine are on the podcast to discuss what the trust is trying to do and whether there are flaws to its strategy.

Shares magazine’s Tom Sieber also joins the podcast to talk about an investment trust that is shooting for the moon as it hopes to make money from investing in space. So far, Seraphim Space Investment Trust has delivered poor returns for shareholders who invested at its stock market debut in 2021.

Dan chats with James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, about the growing trend for mergers in the investment trust space. We’ve also got Laith Khalaf to run through what it means if one of the trusts in your portfolio goes through a merger, takeover or decides to be shut down.

Housebuilders under scrutiny of watchdog, tech stocks in focus and why Disney’s in the doldrums

On this week’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast Danni is joined by new host, AJ Bell’s pensions and savings expert Charlene Young. The pair discuss the CMA’s announcement that it is investigating whether eight UK housebuilders including Barratt and Taylor Wimpey have been sharing commercially sensitive information that could have affected house prices. 

Danni digs into whether Shein’s consideration of a London listing comes with warning signs and whether a bidding war could be about to start for electrical retailer Currys.

Charlene considers warnings by the IFS that the Chancellor must prove any tax cuts are affordable, and the good news that food price inflation is finally falling.

Dan Coatsworth has been chatting to a couple of people who know tech stocks inside out AND backwards – we’ll hear from Maneesh Bajaj from Brown Advisory’s US Flexible Equity Fund which is invested in most of the Magnificent Seven. Now the dust has settled, we’ve brought back George Dent from BNY Mellon Long-Term Global Equity Fund to talk about semiconductors.

Tom Sieber from Shares magazine also joins the show to consider if Disney has really lost its way.

Nvidia soars, HSBC sinks after China hit, Fundsmith’s Terry Smith talks weight loss drugs, and former Dragon Sarah Willingham on tough time for hospitality

On this week’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast, Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson dig into Nvidia’s barnstorming results which have put a rocket under stock markets, including new record highs in Japan and Europe.

It was a mixed picture for UK banks with HSBC shares plummeting the most since the pandemic after a cocktail of negative factors in its results. The team also weigh up the key points from Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest from their latest results. 

Dan chats to Fundsmith Equity Fund manager Terry Smith and head of research Julian Robins about why they are excited by a certain stock in the pharmaceutical sector as weight-loss drugs take off.

Danni catches up with former Dragon Sarah Willingham and her husband Michael Toxvaerd about expanding their Nightcap empire at a time that hospitality is struggling.

The podcast team also discuss the potential headroom in the Chancellors’ budget which could give the green light to pre-election tax cuts, why the governor of the Bank of England thinks the UK recession is already behind us, and the new bank notes featuring King Charles coming to a wallet near you in the next few months.

Everything you need to know about Microsoft, the big Nvidia versus Arm challenge, and what the latest inflation and GDP figures mean for interest rate cuts

There is a big tech theme running through this week’s edition of the AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast. Dan Coatsworth explains how investors have been piling into Arm Holdings as a new way to play the artificial intelligence theme, while Nvidia has leapfrogged Alphabet to become the third largest company on Wall Street by market value.

This week’s special guest is George Dent who is part of the investment team managing the BNY Mellon Long-Term Global Equity Fund. He gives a fascinating interview about everything to do with Microsoft and why it remains so popular with investors.

We’ve had a wealth of new data on inflation and the economy which have significant implications for the direction of interest rates. Laith Khalaf examines the data and what might happen next for savers, borrowers and investors.

Dan considers what The Body Shop’s UK operations going into administration means for shoppers and the retail sector.

Laith talks through the reasons behind Bitcoin rising above the $50,000 level and he also reveals the steps investors are taking to avoid losing more of their gains to the taxman from 6 April.

Magnificent Seven updates, McDonald’s, US dividend investing and why your retirement pot might need to get bigger

On today’s AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast we’ll be diving into the latest market moves, including how McDonald’s has been hit by the Middle East conflict and how oil price falls have had a knock-on effect on BP, Shell and Total Energies profits. We’ve also got a round-up of the updates we had from some of the Magnificent 7 last week, including Apple, Amazon and Meta.

Our interview this week is with seasoned US investor Daniel Peris, who has over two decades of experience as a dividend-focused portfolio manager in the US. He is talking all about how investors in the States have shifted away from a dividend focus – and why that might be about to change.

And finally, Laura will be bringing you some news on why you might need more in your retirement pot than you initially thought, as a new report out this week found that the amount we all need to live on in retirement has increased dramatically.

Investment trust show #1. Future of Scottish Mortgage, sources of generous income, finding bargains and why smaller companies could have a good year

Welcome to the first in a new series of bonus podcasts from the AJ Bell Money & Markets team.

If you’re a fan of investment trusts, you’re going to love it. And if you don’t know what they are and just want to hear interesting stuff about markets, companies and investing in general, you’ll also find loads of great stuff.

Published at the start of each month, the bonus podcast series will feature a range of topics with investment experts and fund managers, with each episode debating some of the most popular trusts with retail investors, the big topics that matter, and a little bit of educational material to get listeners up to speed.

To kick things off, this episode focuses on income, bargains, technology and smaller companies.

Laura Suter chats with Paul Angell from AJ Bell about how plenty of investment trusts offer a decent income stream. Paul reveals all the key things you need to consider when researching potential investments in this space and highlights three trusts with interesting characteristics.

The ability to buy a portfolio of shares or bonds for less than they are worth is a key attribute of many investment trusts. Dan Coatsworth talks to Emma Bird from Winterflood about these discounts and why they exist.

Tom Sieber and Steve Frazer from Shares magazine get under the bonnet of Scottish Mortgage, an £11 billion investment trust which has tested shareholders’ patience in recent years. They explain why it became popular, why the share price has been through a bad patch, and what to expect from the trust going forward.

Finally, Dan chats with Stuart Widdowson from Odyssean Investment Trust about the outlook for UK-listed smaller companies and why 2024 could be more fruitful for this part of the market.

Markets hit by interest rate decision, Microsoft and Alphabet fail to win over investors, Elon Musk’s odd behaviour, and finding opportunities among UK mid cap stocks

On this week’s episode of the AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast, Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson discuss the impact on markets as the Federal Reserve seems to push a rate cut into the long, spring grass.

The pair chew over why Microsoft and Alphabet’s results were such a let a down as both companies warned the AI boom would come at a price.

Danni mulls over Elon Musk’s odd behaviour after a judge in Delaware voids his 2018 mega pay deal and Tesla shareholders are asked to vote on moving the company’s legal home to a different US state in apparent retaliation.

Dan digs into what’s going on with IPOs and why companies like Flutter are still quitting London for New York.

You can also hear about the IMF warning that the UK Chancellor’s potential tax cut plan doesn’t add up, the surge in demand for help dealing with financial problems reported by the Money Helper service, and the green shoots spotted by mortgage brokers in the housing market.

This week’s guest interview features Jean Roche from Schroder UK Mid Cap investment trust who’s on the show to talk about interesting companies on the UK market and why she is becoming more optimistic.

US markets hit new record high, Netflix enjoys growth spurt, Tesla disappoints, and plans to stamp out hidden fees

Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson explain why US shares are doing so well, including a rally in chip-related stocks and how Netflix has managed to enjoy a new growth spurt.

Tom Sieber and Steven Frazer from Shares magazine are on the show to talk about why investors have given a big thumbs down to Tesla’s latest results.

Dan explores the concept of drip pricing and how hidden fees could soon be a thing of the past.

Danni chats about new figures which show a rise in mortgage and loan defaults, and how more retailers are seeing a pick-up in demand for buy now, pay later.

The team also debate the prospect of big changes to the frequency of letter deliveries in the UK.

Finally, Laura Suter talks to AJ Bell’s investments director Ryan Hughes about market trends and what’s been happening with AJ Bell funds.

Inflation in shock rise, Red Sea troubles, Premium Bond rate is cut and Allianz manager on tech sector

On this week’s podcast Danni and Laura cover the all important inflation figure, which showed the headline number had moved in the wrong direction. That surprise shift had a knock-on effect on markets, so we look at the winners and losers there. The ongoing issues in the Red Sea are having an impact on companies, including Shell, but also are a risk to inflation, so we delve into the potential effects on prices.

In the markets segment we also cover what the latest jobs figures mean for the health of the economy, and for recruitment firm Page Group, and we look at the impact of the new boss at BP.

As interest rates are still expected to be cut this year, it’s no surprise that savings rates are falling. We’ve got some news about the Premium Bond prize fund falling – which might signal the end of great rates for savers. And as more people are dragged into the next income tax bracket, Laura has got some helpful advice on how to navigate that.

Our interview this week is Mike Seidenberg, lead portfolio manager of the Allianz Technology Trust, about the technology space and his outlook for the year ahead.