“The invisible thing called a good name is made up of the breath of numbers that speak well of you.”

These worthy words of Lord Edward Wood, Earl of Halifax, apply very well to stockbroker AJ Bell; a company which passed half a million customers this year, as well as the man who gave the firm its name.

AJ Bell has since grown to become one of the largest investment platforms in the UK and offers pensions, ISAs and general investment accounts. The business, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in November 2018, now manages around £75bn of assets

It also now offers AJ Bell Dodl, launched in April 2022, a low-cost investment app with a simplified investment range.

You can view The Good Money Guide’s review of the firm’s overall offering here, as well as our review of Dodl here.

Who is AJ Bell?

But where does the name come from? Well, as is the case with many financial services groups, its founder: Andy James Bell,

After leaving his career as an actuary, Liverpool-born Andrew (Andy) James Bell founded AJ Bell as its CEO in 1995 along with Nicholas Littlefair in a 149 square-foot office in Manchester funded by £10,000 of personal loans.

Andy Bell retired as CEO of the business two years ago, with AJ Bell’s former CFO Michael Summersgill taking the reins. In July 2023 he nominated former chair of the group Les Platts as a non-executive director to represent his interests on its board.

As of May this year, he still owns roughly 20% of the company. Co-founder Littlefair sold his shares in 2007 to Invesco.

Bell set up his own charitable trust in 2011, is a fellow fellow at The Institute of Actuaries and became chair of Merseyside wellness group Applied Nutrition, in which he holds a stake, earlier this year.

He was awarded a CBE in the latest New Year Honours List