The chief executive and chairman of AJ Bell (AJB) have trimmed their stakes in the DIY investment platform, pocketing £7.75m and £0.76m, respectively.
Andy Bell and Les Platts made the sale on Friday 14 August at 438p-a-pop, then a premium to the shares’ 20-day simple moving average. The disposal also came two days after the Financial Conduct Authority wrote to Mr Bell and other investment platforms suggesting they return inactive client deposits to customer bank accounts if they are unlikely to be reinvested any time soon.
Like its peers, AJ Bell saw a rise in client cash in the first half of this year, as some investors liquidated their portfolios. The group is plans to launch a ‘savings hub’ for investors to manage their cash holdings on the company’s Youinvest platform, through one online account.
AJ Bell declined to comment on the director deals, or whether the FCA missive had factored into their decision to sell down their holdings. Of course, correlation is not causation, and Mr Bell and Mr Platts continue to hold stakes of £425m and £1.9m, respectively.
Indeed, they are not the first insiders to recently bank some profits. A week before, Charles Galbraith made his own disposal of a quarter of a million shares at 435p each, leaving the managing director of Youinvest with a residual stake of 2.5m shares, worth £11m.
Buys | ||||||
Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
Centrica | Scott Wheway (ch) | 12 Aug 20 | 100,000 | 48.8 | 48,799 | |
Centrica | Christopher O'Shea | 13 Aug 20 | 60,850 | 48.4 | 29,426 | Average price |
Centrica | Christopher O'Shea | 13 Aug 20 | 39,150 | 47.42 | 18,565 | Purchased by PCA |
Hammerson | Desmond de Beer | 13 Aug 20 | 3,000,000 | 52.66 | 1,579,869 | Residual interest 0.923%, converted from ZAR |
Hammerson | Desmond de Beer | 13 Aug 20 | 300,000 | 52.37 | 157,103 | |
Hammerson | Desmond de Beer | 13 Aug 20 | 3,000,000 | 52.66 | 1,579,869 | |
Glanbia | Siobhán Talbot | 13 Aug 20 | 10,000 | 840.6 | 84,060 | Converted from € |
reach4entertaiment enterprises | Marc Boyan (ceo) | 13 Aug 20 | 34,013,335 | 0.348 | 118,366 | |
Just Group | John Hastings-Bass (ch) | 13 Aug 20 | 98,200 | 56.75 | 55,729 | |
Ninety One | Hendrick du Toit/Kim McFarland | 14 Aug 20 | 35,001 | 210.83 | 73,791 | Purchased by PCA |
Hill & Smith | Hannah Nichols (cfo) | 14 Aug 20 | 1,478 | 1,353 | 19,997 | |
Jupiter Fund Management | Andrew Formica (ceo) | 14 Aug 20 | 230,000 | 214.3 | 492,890 | |
Condor Gold | Jim Mellon | 14 Aug 20 | 125,000 | 50.5 | 63,125 | |
Ninety One | Hendrick du Toit/Kim McFarland | 17 Aug 20 | 100,000 | 207.94 | 207,939 | |
Spirax-Sarco | Jane Kingston | 18 Aug 20 | 1,320 | 10,742 | 141,794 | |
Prudential | Amy Yip | 18 Aug 20 | 2,500 | 1,240 | 30,988 | |
easyJet | Peter Bellew (coo) | 18 Aug 20 | 8,500 | 552.8 | 46,988 | |
Sells | ||||||
Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
Legal & General | Laura Mason | 13 Aug 20 | 9,820 | 236.96 | 23,269 | |
AJ Bell | Andrew Bell (ceo) | 14 Aug 20 | 1,770,751 | 437.77 | 7,751,756 | Residual interest 23.58% |
AJ Bell | Leslie Platts (ch) | 14 Aug 20 | 177,075 | 437.77 | 775,174 | Residual interest 0.1% |
Renishaw | Daniel Deer | 14 Aug 20 | 5,350 | 4,850 | 259,496 | |
Whitbread | Mark Anderson | 17 Aug 20 | 3,210 | 2,387 | 76,623 | |
Zotefoams | David Stirling (ceo) | 17 Aug 20 | 55,000 | 404 | 222,200 | |
William Hill | Crispin Nieboer | 18 Aug 20 | 20,000 | 146.5 | 29,300 |