AJ Bell shares rocket by more than a third on stock market debut

Investment platform AJ Bell saw its share price rise dramatically on its first day of trading, having initially been valued at £651m. 

The company announced last month that they would debut on the stock market today and earlier this week set its offer price at 160p per share.

But investors sent the share price up by more than a third during the morning session, reaching just over 216p per share, a 33.6 per cent increase.

Richard Parfect, fund manager at Seneca Investment Managers, said: “We’re pleased that AJ Bell has reached this stage in its evolution. We look forward to continuing to play a part in the growth of AJ Bell and are delighted that one of our funds’ earliest investments has been such a material benefit to our investors.

"Well structured, easy to use, and fairly priced platforms have a compelling place to enable customers to manage their savings portfolios. A market listing should help raise the profile of the platform and it’s feasible that others will follow.”

AJ Bell have been undeterred about going public despite several disappointing listings in recent months amid Brexit concerns and market volatility. 

Founder Mr Bell has reduced his stake in the IPO down to 25 per cent from 28 per cent, while Invesco have also sold some of their shares, from 44 to 25 per cent.

The company's staff are set to make £2m between the 750 of them as a result of the listing, which raised £169.3 m.