AJ Bell thrives on retail investor boom

THE retail stock market investor boom shows no sign of slowing. AJ Bell said today customer numbers are up 27% to 398,066 in the last year, with assets up 21% to £75.6 billion.

A new breed of often younger investor discovered share investing during lockdown, leading to fears that many do not understand the risks they are taking.

CEO Andy Bell said: “We continue to see strong demand for our easy to use, low-cost platform across both the advised and direct-to-consumer markets.”

The company admits “Government restrictions” helped drive customer growth. The shares were up 2p at 349p.