AJ Bell : Ryan Hughes appointed as investments director at AJ Bell

Ryan Hughes appointed as investments director at AJ Bell

23 October 2023

Share:

AJ Bell has appointed Ryan Hughes as investments director to head up its rapidly growing investment proposition.

In his new role Ryan will lead AJ Bell's investment proposition including the range of AJ Bell multi-asset funds and its Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) for financial advisers. Strong performance and low charges of these propositions has helped them increase assets under management by 68% in the past year to £4.7 billion, including net inflows of £1.65 billion in the year to September*.

AJ Bell's core multi-asset fund range has consistently outperformed their Investment Association sector average, delivering excellent long-term performance, with ongoing charges as low as 0.31% per year.

AJ Bell's MPS offers advisers a range of outcome-orientated portfolio solutions, mapped to the leading risk profiling tools in the market. Advisers can use them to meet a range of client needs, with a low annual charge of just 0.15%.

Ryan joined AJ Bell in 2016 and has played a leading role in the development of AJ Bell's investment proposition. Most recently he was head of investment partnerships, overseeing bespoke MPS portfolios for advised firms, something he will continue to be involved with in his new role.

Prior to joining AJ Bell, he was a fund manager and discretionary portfolio manager at Apollo Multi Asset Management and before that, he spent eight years as a senior fund manager at Skandia, now Quilter, sitting as a member on their Investment Committee and Global Asset Allocation Committee.

Ryan Hughes, investments director at AJ Bell, says:

"The high-quality range of investment solutions we've developed at AJ Bell has gained fantastic traction across both our advised and D2C platforms. We've been able to deliver strong returns for customers across our funds and MPS, while reducing charges for customers and delivering great service.

"I'm really excited to be leading the team as we continue to grow and I look forward to continuing that in the near future with the appointment of a new head of investment research and head of investment product adding further strength."

Kevin Doran, CIO and managing director, adds:

"Ryan has played a vital role in developing AJ Bell's leading range of investment solutions for both advised and D2C customers. As investments director, we're delighted he'll be able to continue that fantastic work and spearhead the growth of our investment range, which attracted a further £1.9 billion in the last year* despite a challenging market in which many managers are suffering outflows."

*AJ Bell Investment AUM £4.7 billion as at 30 September 2023

Follow us: