Investment Trust show: outlook for gold and copper, potential safe havens if the stock market falls
We’re back with December’s episode of the investment trust show, an AJ Bell Money & Markets bonus episode. This month, Tom Sieber discuss some interesting manager changes on Murray Income Trust and Crystal Amber. [02:14]
Dan Coatsworth talks to Fundsmith’s Terry Smith about proposed changes to Smithson Investment Trust [09:45] and reveals more names being targeted by activist investor Saba [15:55].
Hannah Williford chats to Ashley Thomas from Winterflood about some potential changes that could hurt the renewable energy sector. [19:05]
The gold has had a brilliant year, so Dan talks to commodities expert Evy Hambro from the BlackRock World Mining Trust about the prospects for the shiny metal in 2026 and why he is so bullish on copper. They also talk about takeover activity involving big mining companies and whether China is still as important as it was for commodities demand. [32:58]
Finally, lots of people are asking what they should think about if financial markets go through a difficult period. Hannah spoke to Nick Britton from the Association of Investment Companies about a particular group of investment trusts that aim to preserve investors’ wealth, and which have historically seen increased investor interest when markets fall. They discuss Capital Gearing Trust, Personal Assets Trust and Ruffer Investment Company. [51:19]
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Breaking down the Budget: Cash ISA cuts, Lifetime ISA changes, dividend tax hikes and more
AJ Bell experts Charlene Young and Dan Coatsworth react to Rachel Reeves’ autumn Budget in this special edition of the Money & Markets podcast.
Financial markets were initially taken by surprise after the OBR report was leaked ahead of the chancellor’s speech, and Dan explains why gilts and equities moved in a certain way. He also dives into the reasons why banking and gambling shares saw big moves. [31:24]
There was big news for anyone who uses salary sacrifice to make pension contributions. Charlene explains how the system will change from 2029. [07:35]
The taxman is going to take a bigger chunk of your dividends, savings and property income under new rules. Dan also explains how higher property income taxes might lead to higher rent on flats or houses. [10:35]
The podcast team explore the changes in store for Cash ISAs [13:00] and why we might see the Lifetime ISA morph into something else. [14:30]
Are you lucky enough to have a home worth more than £2 million? Brace yourself for higher taxes. [16:45]
Dan argues that a stamp duty holding on shares in newly listed companies doesn’t go far enough. [20:45]. He also explores the extra pressures being piled on small businesses.
Charlene reveals some good news from the Budget around energy bills, rail fares and more. [23:53]. She finishes up with important news on frozen allowances [25:50].
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Should you worry about a stock market crash? This is what Terry Smith has to say
Worried about the state of the stock market and the potential for a crash? You’re not alone as Dan Coatsworth discusses in this episode of the AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast. He looks at what’s happening in the UK and US markets, and why investors have reacted in a certain way. [01:35]
Fundsmith chief executive Terry Smith is on the show to give his thoughts on the plethora of market worries. [08:04]
Charlene Young explains why the economy and the markets are not the same thing. Especially in the context of recent poor growth figures, the unemployment rate creeping up, yet the FTSE 100 recently hitting new record highs. [11:48]
Dan has good news for people worried if their money is protected in the event of a bank or investment platform going bust. [14:41]
There is a lot of talk about home insurance becoming much more expensive in recent years, so Charlene and Dan explore the reasons why premiums have shot up. [20:23]
Anticipation around the Budget is causing jitters in the UK property market, as the pod team discuss. [25:36]
Finally, we’re debuting a new series celebrating interesting companies on the UK stock market. Our first guest is Ronnie George, chief executive of Volution, a ventilation products group which has made twice as much money for shareholders over the past year than a fund tracking the US stock market. [28:17]
Sign up to the free AJ Bell Budget webinar on 27 November 2025 at 1pm GMT: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6453427819562096725
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Deep Dive #6: Are active fund managers a dying breed?
The battle between active and passive managers has been going in earnest for over a decade now, and the passive machines are winning. In this Deep Dive, Laith Khalaf and Dan Coatsworth explore the active and passive fund landscape, and ask if there is a way back for active fund managers.
Dan and Laith discuss why passive funds have become so popular and share some stats on fund flows and figures from AJ Bell’s Manager versus Machine report, which pits active and passive funds against each other. [01:01]
Laith catches up with Craig Baker who chairs the investment committee for Alliance Witan, one of the biggest investment trusts in the UK, to find out why they have chosen a distinctive active investment strategy and how it’s been performing. [22:28]
Paul Angel, Head of Investment Research at AJ Bell joins Dan and Laith to talk about how to pick active and passive funds. [34:05]
Paul, Dan and Laith discuss whether the rise of passive funds is bad for the stockmarket and consider the future of active management. [48:17]
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No change to pension tax free cash, the FTSE 100 nears 10,000 and can Tesco’s old boss turn around Diageo?
On this episode of the AJ Bell Money and Markets podcast, Laura Suter delivers some good news on pension tax free cash after it’s reported that the Chancellor won’t alter allowances at the Budget. [2:10] But with a merry-go-round of speculation every year impacting savers’ decisions, AJ Bell is calling for the government to take seriously its calls for a pension tax lock.
As the FTSE 100 breaks more records and edges closer to the psychologically important 10,000 mark, Danni Hewson digs into what’s behind this latest run of good form. Spoiler: it’s not all good news. [4:40]
An anticipated end to the US government shutdown has helped offset renewed nerves about an AI bubble after Softbank sold its entire stake of Nvidia. [9:32] And former Tesco boss Dave Lewis will be hoping every little can help him turn around the fortunes of drinks maker Diageo. [13:30]Â
Tom Sieber joins the team to talk about changes to AJ Bell’s Shares magazine [16:30] With talk about potential changes to the cash ISA limit to try and get more of us to move away from cash savings and into investing, Laura’s been crunching the numbers to find out exactly how investing in cash or stocks and shares compares over time [21:30].
Plus HMRC has been clamping down on benefits fraud – but they’ve not always been getting things right. [28:30] And our guest interview this week is a catch up with Ayush Abhijeet, Investment Director at Ashoka India Equity, who explains why returns have been a bit lacklustre over the past year and why that creates an opportunity for investors. [30:30]
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