AJ Bell’s founder pockets £17m as he reduces his stake

THE founder of investment platform AJ Bell has made almost £17m from selling a chunk of his stake.

Andy Bell ( pictured), who started the company in Manchester in 1995, yesterday sold 3.6m shares at 460p each.

His colleague Fergus Lyons, managing director of the online investment division, sold 1.8m shares worth £8.1m.

It is understood that the pair sold down their stakes to meet demand from a new institutional investor, who wanted to buy in. It is not yet known who the investor is.

Bell, a 54-year-old father of four, owes almost the entirety of his wealth to the company he founded and now leads.

The Liverpool-born entrepreneur had a modest upbringing and after working as an actuary and sports coach for a few years, set up AJ Bell with his friend Nicholas Littlefair.

Lyons, 59, joined in 2000 after several years as a banker. He was rewarded for his years of service with a chunky stake when the company floated in 2018 for £675m. Since then, its value has almost tripled to £1.9bn.

Lyons still owns a 3.8pc stake, worth £72.8m while Bell’s remaining 22.7pc stake is worth £430.5m.

AJ Bell’s shares dipped 2.6pc, or 12.5p, to 462.5p yesterday.

The platform, which competes with the likes of Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor, now has 295,305 customers, up 27pc over the year, and looks after £56.5bn of savers’ money.

It has fared well through the pandemic, as investors took advantage of stock market volatility. Though he still owns more than a fifth of the shares, Bell has cashed in by selling almost £8m worth in August, and £23m a year ago.