Investment platform AJ Bell has reported significant growth for the first half of 2026, with AUM climbing 10% to almost £9.8bn following strong performance.
Net inflows for the investment business were £0.6bn in the first half of the year, roughly level with the £0.7bn added in the first half of 2025.
The firm’s platform business has also continued to grow, with a record 79,000 additional customers, leading to a closing customer count of 723,000. Platform AUA rose by 5%, driven by a “record net inflow” of £4.2bn and market movements.
Michael Summersgill (pictured), chief executive officer at AJ Bell, said: “I am delighted to report an excellent set of first‑half results.
“This performance clearly demonstrates the delivery of our strategy, as we reinvest the benefits of our scale and operational gearing into our brand, marketing capabilities and products, driving continued market share gains.”
In early trading, the share price has climbed more than 10%, according to Google Finance.
AJ Bell also revealed it had returned more than £77m to shareholders in the first half of the year and announced a further £15m share buyback programme, on top of the previously announced dividend package.
Looking forward, Summersgill said the team is interested in further AI integration using its internal GenAI platform, to help enhance distribution and product development and drive operational gearing.
“The government’s ambition to boost retail investing is encouraging; however, in both pension and ISA markets, we continue to see complexity and uncertainty.
“Ahead of fiscal events in 2024 and 2025, speculation around potential pension tax changes, driven by a lack of policy clarity, caused more than £1bn of excess pension withdrawals from our platform.”
See also: Budget 2025: Key takeaways for the investment industry
The AJ Bell CEO stressed the need for formal public consultation, warning that proposed ISA reform will create further complexity, despite the limited evidence that it will encourage further retail investment.
Nevertheless, “We remain confident in the outlook, with strong momentum continuing into the second half of the year,” Summersgill concluded.
