Better Health for All

AJ Bell plc operates as an investment platform provider, offering online investment and stockbroker services. Its revenue is derived from these financial services, not from products with direct health impacts or risks. While AJ Bell offers 'Responsible Growth Fund' and 'Responsible Managed Portfolio Service' that exclude investments in controversial sectors like tobacco and alcohol, these are investment product choices rather than direct health-related services or products provided by the company itself.

Consequently, the company's operations do not directly involve health-related R&D, safety implications, accessibility of health products, health data management, or health crisis response.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

The AJ Bell Futures Foundation contributes 0.5% of the company's annual profit before tax to support individuals facing challenges.

Just under 2,000 customers used Lifetime ISAs for a first home purchase, and customers withdrew over £1.5 billion of pension funds for retirement. The company operates as an investment platform and does not offer high-cost financial products or penalty fees. It is not regulated as a lender and has no fair-lending history, though it completed its first annual Consumer Duty assessment. The company does not provide debt products to consumers and operates as an online investment platform, thus not operating financial service access points.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

AJ Bell plc reported a CEO total remuneration to median employee pay ratio of 57:1 for FY24.

The company achieved an 83% employee engagement score in both 2024 and 2025 from its Great Place to Work® Survey. Voluntary employee turnover was 12.9%. All staff are offered a health cash plan, and the Executive Director, their spouse, and dependent children receive medical cover. The company implemented an average 4% pay increase at the start of FY25 and a 5% average pay increase for FY24, along with uplifts to employer pension contributions. A free share award scheme is in operation, with 81% of staff owning shares as of September 2025. The company states it remains confident that men and women are paid equally for equivalent roles and that its median gender pay difference is one of the lowest in the investment platform sector.

Honest & Fair Business

AJ Bell received a CSA transparency score of 35.

The company reported a £6.2 million provision for potential customer redress related to historical SIPP issues and committed to an additional £14 million annual payout to customers following an FCA warning, though these were not regulatory fines. One minor financial restatement was made, reclassifying £2.8 million in expenses. Independent external audit coverage for Group total assets was 92%. AJ Bell has a comprehensive whistleblowing framework with an external helpline, independent investigation processes, safeguards against retaliation, regular training for new staff, and a Whistleblowing Champion. The company maintains an Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy, adhering to the UK Bribery Act 2010, with zero tolerance for corruption and training provided during new employee induction.

Kind to Animals

AJ Bell is an investment platform provider, and its direct business operations do not involve animal testing, animal agriculture, or the use of animal-derived products. Therefore, most animal welfare KPIs are not applicable to its direct activities. While AJ Bell implements negative screening to exclude companies with poor records on animal testing and animal welfare issues from its investment funds, such as the Rathbone Ethical Bond fund

and Responsible Screened Growth fund , this reflects its investment strategy rather than its own operational policies or direct impact on animal welfare.

No War, No Weapons

AJ Bell plc, an investment platform, offers specific "Responsible" portfolios and funds that include ethical red lines and exclusions for controversial industries and weapons.

These exclusions cover nuclear weapons, controversial weapons, and the manufacture or supply of weapons (with a >15% revenue exposure threshold for the latter). However, the company's standard portfolios do not consider ESG characteristics critical for inclusion or exclusion. This means that while a divestment policy and ethical red lines exist for specific ethical investment products, they are not applied universally across all of the company's investment offerings. Consequently, the company cannot demonstrate zero exposure to controversial weapons across all its facilitated investments. The company's core business does not involve direct arms manufacturing, dual-use technology development, or sales to embargoed regimes.

Planet-Friendly Business

AJ Bell uses 100% renewable electricity across all its offices.

The company diverts 100% of waste from its Manchester head office from landfill. It offsets 100% of its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions using credits certified by a carbon crediting standard aligned with the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) and its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), achieving carbon neutral status for these scopes for the fifth consecutive year. The company's total operational Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions for 2024 were 7,286 tCO2e, representing an 11.04% decrease from 2023. AJ Bell has committed to net-zero by 2050, aligning with the UK Government's commitment, and has near-term targets to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by at least 42% by 2030 from a 2022 baseline, and Scope 3 emissions by at least 25% by 2030 from a 2022 baseline. The company produced its third report on climate-related disclosures, aligned to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Recommendations, and performed initial scenario analysis over identified risks. It conducted at least one environmental impact assessment, specifically an energy efficiency assessment of its Manchester head office.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

AJ Bell has established 6 formal partnerships with local community groups and charities, including Smart Works, IntoUniversity, Stop.Breathe.Think, British Heart Foundation, City of Trees, and the Great Run Series.

The company provides standard customer complaint mechanisms and an internal whistleblowing framework for staff, but no specific grievance mechanisms for broader community concerns. Given its business model as an investment platform, several aspects related to cultural impact, indigenous engagement, and cultural site protection are not applicable to its operations. There are no reported cultural appropriation incidents, no specific cultural impact assessment protocol, no community representation on governance bodies, no specific cultural preservation funding, no tracking of indigenous suppliers, and no cultural incident response framework.

Safe & Smart Tech

Systems are regularly tested by accredited third-party ethical hackers through penetration testing exercises, covering both production systems and development activities.

AJ Bell is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, conducts an annual Internal Capital and Risk Assessment (ICARA) process as required by FCA regulation, and its Compliance Team regularly engages with the FCA and DWP. It has completed its first annual Consumer Duty assessment. and is strengthening regulatory compliance with AI-powered customer screening. AJ Bell acknowledges the importance of regular audits of AI models to identify and rectify biases, ensure regulatory compliance, and uphold ethical standards. All staff undergo security training, and regular phishing testing is conducted. Payment transactions are encrypted using SSL technology, and security features are in place to prevent unauthorized access or use of personal information, with no documented incidents of unauthorized data use. Weekly vulnerability scans are performed to identify configuration issues and assess the effectiveness of the software patching schedule. Personal information is retained only as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill collected purposes, including legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

AJ Bell has a recycling strategy that diverts 100% of waste from landfill at its Manchester head office and Blue Fin building.

The company also reduced paper use by 40% in the past year and donated 263 refurbished laptops and desktops to community organizations in 2024. Furthermore, a sustainable procurement policy has been implemented, and sustainability questionnaires are sent to top suppliers, with 65% of those suppliers having established their own carbon reduction targets.