Expert Panel

To simplify and streamline the voting process we have invited a panel of experts to review the investment fund and trusts choices available in each of the 15 categories. Each expert has then put forward their preferred investment fund and trust nominations. All nominees have been put together with the top six investment funds and trusts making the final short lists for AJ Bell customers to choose from.
Richard Romer-Lee

Richard Romer-Lee, Chief Executive Officer - Square Mile Research

Richard is a co-founder of Square Mile and is responsible for determining the strategy and focus for the business in conjunction with the Board and the Management Team. He works closely with clients, as well forging strong business relationships within the wider industry. Richard regularly interviews leading industry figures for Square Mile’s popular ‘Talking With’ series.

 

Daniel Coatsworth

Daniel Coatsworth, Editor - Shares magazine

Daniel Coatsworth is the editor of Shares magazine, co-host of the AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast, and a stock market analyst for AJ Bell. He is a leading commentator on equities and funds, and has appeared in many of the UK's leading newspapers, investment and business websites and personal finance magazines. Daniel has worked for AJ Bell since 2012 and written about the world of investing since 2005.

Ryan Hughes

Ryan Hughes, Head of Investment Research - AJ Bell Investments

Ryan started his career in 1999 working for an independent financial adviser, progressing to become Head of Portfolio Management at an award-winning advisory firm. Ryan then joined a global asset management firm as a Fund Manager, where he oversaw more than £10bn of multi-asset portfolios and also sat on the investment and global asset allocation committees. After seven years, Ryan joined a small multi-asset boutique managing portfolios for clients all around the world, before joining AJ Bell in 2016 to help establish our investment capability and overseeing all investment research for AJ Bell. In 2022, Ryan was appointed as Head of Investment Partnerships with responsibility for managing bespoke portfolios tailored to specific adviser needs. Ryan is a member of the CFA UK Society, is frequently asked for his views in the press and on panel debates while also being recognised as one of the leading fund researchers in the UK.

 

Joel Adams

Joel Adams, CEO - LIFT-Financial

Joel Adams is the co-founder of LIFT-Financial, the award-winning Chartered Financial Planning Firm. He is a Chartered and Certified Financial Planner,  Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and a former PFS Chartered Financial Planner of the Year. LIFT have over £1.5bn under advice and have recently launched an in-house discretionary management firm, LIFT-Invest. 

“I’m a strong believer in the values of Chartered status and help the PFS promote these across the industry.  Helping people take control of their finances and giving them security for the future is what drives me.”

William Heathcoat Amory

William Heathcoat Amory, Co-founding Partner - Kepler Partners

William Heathcoat Amory is a Co-Founding Partner of Kepler Partners, and leads the Investment Trust Research business via Kepler Trust Intelligence. William has more than twenty years experience as an Investment Company analyst. Prior to co-founding Kepler Partners in 2008, he was part of the Extel number 1 rated Investment Companies Research team at JPMorgan Cazenove.

Terry McGivern

Terry McGivern, Senior Research Analyst - AJ Bell Investments

Terry started his career in 2005, with a variety of operational roles in investment banking and investment management. In 2010, he became a proprietary futures trader at one of the world’s largest, independent global commodities brokers. Prior to joining AJ Bell, Terry spent five years on the Investment Management Team at a discretionary investment manager in Liverpool, where he was also a member of the Asset Allocation Committee. Having spent 4 years as a fund manager on the AJ Bell fund range and passive portfolios, Terry moved to his current role as Senior Research Analyst for Passive, Smart Beta and Alternative Investments in 2021. He holds the CFA-UK Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and is currently studying towards the CFA Level 2 exam.

 

Emma Bird

Emma Bird, Head of Research - Winterflood Securities

Emma joined the Investment Trust research team at Winterflood Securities in September 2015, after working for the Wealth Management Association for a year. She graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2014 with a First Class Economics degree and is a CFA® Charterholder. Emma leads the team’s research on the Property sub-sector and also covers a range of equity investment trusts.

 

Ana Ribeiro

Ana Ribeiro, Joint Managing Director - St Brides

Ana joined St Brides in January 2022. She has over 20 years’ experience in communications, both in-house and agency.

Throughout that time, she has supported clients listed on several exchanges including the LSE (AIM, Main and Standard Listing), Aquis, ASX, JSE, TSX with their regulatory requirements and investment engagement.

Ana is sector agnostic, but has extensive experience within the natural resources sector, with a focus on mining. She has advised on IPO’s, financial calendar work, secondary listings, and equity and debt fundraisings.

 

Tom Skinner

Tom Skinner, Managing Director (Investment Companies) - Investec Bank

Tom Skinner is a Managing Director within the Investment Companies Team at Investec Bank, leading the team’s corporate broking activities since 2019. Tom has two decades of experience in the investment companies space having previously worked in corporate finance, origination and research roles at Dexion Capital and JPMorgan Cazenove (where his research was repeatedly ranked number 1 in the Extel Survey). Tom is a CFA Charterholder and has a first class degree from the University of Oxford (Merton College).