In the fifth of our series – The Fundamentals – about going back to the basics of investing in AIM shares for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning purposes, we look at: How to use AIM to stop HMRC taking money from your family.

Figures released yesterday by HMRC showed they took £6.1 billion in Inheritance Tax for March – up by £0.7 billion on last year. How can clients use AIM  to reduce the amount their family pays after they pass away?

One way is for a client to invest in certain AIM shares that qualify for Business Relief for 2 years and provided they are still held at death, the estate will not pay Inheritance Tax on them.

What is Business Relief?

Business Property Relief or BPR (now known as Business Relief) was first introduced in 1976 to allow family businesses to be passed down through generations free of IHT. Its scope subsequently widened and since 1996 it was made available for a range of assets, including limited companies. This means if you buy and hold shares in such companies you could potentially pass on those shares IHT free provided that:

• the shares are held for at least two years and are still held on death
• the company still qualifies for BPR at the time of the investor’s death

You could buy as few or as many shares as you wish. There is no upper limit or allowance. Provided the above conditions are met, the whole value of the investment – be it £10,000 or £10 million – should attract 100% IHT relief.

Please note, tax benefits depend on circumstances and tax rules can change.

Inheritance Tax mitigation

A Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax portfolio achieves 100% mitigation from Inheritance Tax after only two years. Not seven years as is the case through a gifting or trust approach.

Upcoming webinar: How to use AIM for Inheritance Tax Planning? Your Questions Answered

Join Fundamental Asset Management’s Co-Founders Chris Boxall & Stephen Drabwell on Wednesday 4th May at 3pm 2022 as they answer your questions on using AIM for Inheritance Tax Planning. To register for the webinar click here.

What Would You Like To Know?

Now is the time to ask us and we will endeavour to cover it in the webinar.
Send your questions to: [email protected]

The Fundamentals Series

• Introducing The Fundamentals series
• The Fundamentals #2: How to use ISAs for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning?
• The Fundamental #3: The perils of exit fees & support for a client’s estate
• The Fundamentals #4 – What is the Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax Portfolio?

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Our Educational Webinars also provide plenty of further information.

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

In the fourth of our series – The Fundamentals – about going back to the basics of investing in AIM shares for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning purposes, we look at: the Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax ISA Portfolio.

Inheritance Tax planning is not only for those with high net worth. It is a tax which is paid in record numbers (HMRC figures released March 2022) by thousands of people in the UK every year. But it is avoidable with a good Inheritance Tax plan. That is why we would recommend you speak to a financial adviser before making any investment decisions.

The Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax Portfolio has the objective of obtaining 100% relief from Inheritance Tax, as well as the potential for capital appreciation, by investing into qualifying AIM quoted companies. The Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax Portfolio is an effective, proven and non-contentious tax planning method which avoids the costs, administration and loss of control associated with forming a trust or gifting.

Growth potential

Holding a Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax Portfolio means you will benefit from the growth opportunity AIM presents as one of the most successful growth markets in the world.

Inheritance Tax mitigation

A Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax portfolio achieves 100% mitigation from Inheritance Tax after only two years. Not seven years as is the case through a gifting or trust approach.

Retain access to your assets

Holders of the portfolio retain assets in their own name, which means you will not lose control of your assets and have the freedom to redeem some, or all, of your holdings at any time.

ISA benefits

A Fundamental AIM Inheritance Tax Portfolio can be wrapped in an ISA which means you benefit further from no Income or Capital Gains Tax on growth. An ISA can also be left to a surviving spouse in its entirety tax-free through Additional Permitted Subscription. We explain more about the AIM ISA here.

How do I transfer my existing ISA to Fundamental?

If you are looking to transfer your existing ISA to a Fundamental AIM ISA then all you have to do is complete our application and transfer forms and email them to: [email protected], alternatively please call 01923 713 894 .

Please note, if you withdraw your investments from your ISA instead of transferring them, you will lose your ISA benefits and we will not be able to include them into a new Fundamental AIM ISA if that sum is higher than your current year allowance. Transfers can be made in stock and/or funds (with some exceptions) and cash. To retain previous years ISA allowance, please complete our ISA transfer form. Generally, the ISA transfer process can take anything up to six weeks for transfer proceeds to be received by Fundamental from your previous provider.

Looking for a quote?

Email details to us at [email protected] and we will be happy to pull together a personalised illustration for you.

The Fundamentals Series

• Introducing The Fundamentals series
• The Fundamentals #2: How to use ISAs for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning?
• The Fundamental #3: The perils of exit fees & support for a client’s estate

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Our Educational Webinars also provide plenty of further information.

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

In the third of our series – The Fundamentals – about going back to the basics of investing in AIM shares for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning purposes, we look at: the perils of exit fees & support for a client’s estate.

Perils of exit fees

When someone decides to invest, one of the last things they think about is; ‘what are the exit fees if I need to withdraw my money’?

Unlike some of our peers, we don’t charge exit fees. We want people to be with us for the long-term in order to gain from the potential opportunities of our AIM portfolio service, but if someone needs to take their money, we do not think they should be charged for the “privilege”.

Feeling withdrawn?

You can take your money out of your portfolio whenever you need to by contacting us – this is true for AIM IHT portfolios and AIM IHT ISAs. We run flexible ISAs which means you can disinvest and reinvest funds within the same ISA tax year. Money withdrawn may lose tax benefits and could form part of your taxable estate at death. We do not apply a minimum withdrawal amount.

Costs to clients’ estates

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes” Benjamin Franklin famously wrote in 1789. Whilst our AIM IHT portfolio service is designed to try to disprove the second part of the saying by saving on the Inheritance Tax a client’s estate must pay; we all know that death will eventually catch us all. When death does come, we support the Executors of the estate. At a difficult time, we provide the information HMRC requires at no additional charge. Again, sadly, not all AIM asset managers provide this support.  For more information about reducing Inheritance Tax by using Business Property Relief click here.

The Fundamentals Series

• Introducing The Fundamentals series
• The Fundamentals #2: How to use ISAs for Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning?

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

The ISA deadline for 2021/22 is April 5^th, the tax year end. However, the latest date for receipt of ISA applications is 31^st March. Please contact us if you would like to discuss opening an AIM IHT ISA.

You have until the deadline to invest this year’s £20,000 savings allowance so as to benefit from no tax on dividends, interest and capital gains.

As we wrote about in our back-to-basics series The Fundamentals #2: How to use ISAs for Inheritance Tax planning; ISAs per se are not Inheritance Tax free, but they can become so by using a service such as the Fundamental Asset Management AIM IHT ISA Portfolio Service.

For more information, click here or watch the video below:

ISA DEADLINE & IHT PLANNING REMINDER

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

In the second of our new series about going back to the basics of investing in AIM shares for IHT planning purposes, we look at: How to use an AIM ISA to reduce Inheritance Tax.

Are ISAs Inheritance Tax free?

ISAs per se are not Inheritance Tax free, but they can become so by using a service such as the Fundamental Asset Management AIM IHT ISA Portfolio Service.

What is an AIM ISA or AIM IHT ISA portfolio?

An AIM ISA portfolio or AIM IHT ISA portfolio, as the name suggests, is a portfolio of AIM shares, listed on AIM, the junior market of the London Stock Exchange. AIM shares which meet the Business Property Relief rules should benefit from IHT relief and can be held in an ISA. We explain more about Business Property Relief here.

How does it work?

Fundamental Asset Management purchases and manages a portfolio of eligible AIM ISA shares on a client’s behalf – we are experts in assessing Business Property relief eligibility. The portfolio of shares, including capital growth, can be passed on free of IHT after two years, provided the shares are still held on death and still eligible for relief.

Do all AIM shares benefit from IHT relief?

No. At the end of 2021 there were 852 companies on AIM. We estimate that approximately 600 qualify for Inheritance Tax relief and, of those, approximately 300 meet our investing criteria.

When is the ISA deadline for 2021/22?

The ISA deadline for 2021/22 is April 5^th, the tax year end. However, the latest date for receipt of ISA applications is 31^st March. Please contact us if you would like to discuss opening an AIM IHT ISA.

Can an ISA from a previous year become an AIM IHT ISA?

Yes. You can transfer existing ISAs to Fundamental Asset Management:

• Protecting your ISA wrapper benefits
• Gaining Inheritance Tax relief after 2 years
• Taking advantage of the potential growth AIM offers

For more information see our website page AIM ISA Explained

Is now a good time to invest?

As is normally the case when stock markets face uncertainty, the share prices of smaller companies, and particularly those on AIM, have sold off significantly in the first quarter of 2022.

We believe in focusing on the fundamentals of a company, and recent results and updates from many AIM companies we follow have been extremely positive. The recent sell-off therefore presents an excellent opportunity to consider investing in a host of exciting, growing AIM companies, at far more modest valuations than a few months ago.

• See our previous blogs for more information. AIM market sell-off – what we are doing.
• Listen here to a podcast featuring Chris Boxall, Co-founder of Fundamental Asset Management discusses the latest market sell-off and considers what investors should be doing.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

Our last Blog here covered a stock market sell-off and what we are doing. This week we are doing things a bit differently.

Recently, we have received requests to go over some topics from the beginning to assist people who are trying understand what we do at Fundamental Asset Management as well as what AIM is, what opportunities it provides and how it can be used to help reduce Inheritance Tax (IHT).

Over the coming weeks, we will be going back-to-basics focusing on the fundamentals (pun intended!) of the AIM IHT Portfolio Service and indeed Fundamental Asset Management itself. We will be looking at how AIM could provide returns in the medium to long-term that put other investments in the shade as well as how Business Relief can be used for estate planning as well as some frequently asked questions around costs and a number of practical processes.

This week, The Fundamentals brings you a video we have put together; Fundamental Asset Management – An Introduction.

Topics covered include:

• Who Are We?
• What is AIM?
• AIM in 2021.
• AIM for outperformance.
• Business Relief & AIM – How it works.
• AIM IHT Investment Process – Investable Universe.
• AIM Investment Process – Core/ Satellite portfolio approach.
• AIM IHT Investment process – the issues!
• Benefits of a Portfolio – Not a Fund.
• AIM in 2022 – Difficult Start to the year.
• 2022 Opportunities so far.

In this video presentation, Chris Boxall, co-founder of AIM specialist investment manager Fundamental Asset Management, provides an introduction to the Fundamental AIM IHT portfolio service. The presentation covers Fundamental’s investment process and issues to be aware when investing in AIM for Inheritance Tax planning purposes. Chris also offers his thoughts on the outlook for AIM in 2022.

We hope you find it useful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Development Manager Jonathan Bramall via email [email protected] or phone 01923 713 894

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

The week is closing with another big stock market sell-off and, as is once again the case, the shares of smaller companies, particularly those on AIM, are having a tougher time than the blue chips.

Russia’s diabolical invasion of Ukraine has further destabilised a fragile stock market, which was already straining under inflationary and interest rate fears; ironically, in the short term, the risk of the latter has now diminished.

Our previous Blog here shows the stock market reaction to major geopolitical events going back to the Pearl Harbor Attack of 1941.

Mr Market, the manic depressive!

As experienced investors in AIM for Inheritance Tax planning purposes for nearly 20 years, we have unfortunately seen this all before, most recently at the time of the first pandemic lockdown in February 2020 when stock markets fell precipitously, with the AIM market falling 36% in a month. Following this tumultuous and very rapid fall it proceeded to recover strongly, finishing the year up 20% and eclipsing the main UK stock market which remained lower. A similar recovery took place after the financial crisis with the AIM index more than doubling off lows.

Moving forward to the current time, AIM IHT portfolios, in line with the AIM index, are down c20% year-to-date and 25% down from the highs hit at the beginning of September 2021, while the UK main market is down approximately 9.5%.

Selling on AIM has been indiscriminate this week, with even mild disappointment severely punished, and large share price declines for some stocks, as high as 60% in a day in some cases. It should be emphasised that there are rarely stock specific reasons for such dramatic falls, and this is simply the feature of a less liquid market, with plenty of irrational sellers and very few buyers. With a few exceptions, such dramatic share price declines rarely reflect the financial strength or long-term prospects of the companies in question, they are simply a feature of ‘Mr Market’s’ irrational behaviour.

So, what do we do at times like these?

The simple answer is, very little, other than keep an eye out for bargains.

There is certainly no point manically trading, seeking out potential safe havens as they don’t exist, with all small caps being dragged lower, notwithstanding any apparent defensive characteristics. The bid/offer spread also widens and it’s a lot harder to sell at the desired price.

Panic selling, on Mr Market’s terms rather than your own, is always the wrong approach. This incurs unnecessary trading costs and one risks being out of the market when things turn around, as they surely will at some point.

During periods of excessive volatility we recommend clients ignore the manic movements of share prices as they are largely irrelevant, that is unless you need to sell, which we hope is not the case. Think of smaller companies on the stock market as one would an unquoted private equity investment, which does not have the distraction of daily pricing.

Furthermore, as investors in AIM for Inheritance Tax planning purposes, we don’t have the luxury (or disadvantage) of being able to sit in cash and are obliged to remain fully invested, so there is nowhere to hide, even if we wanted to. The advantage of this is that when things do turn around, which they will, portfolios are well placed to benefit, being already invested.

What about valuations?

Companies which joined in AIM in 2021, often with unwarranted valuations, have seen their shares hit particularly hard, with little loyalty being shown by new shareholders. The valuations of many of these were unjustified, often based on unusual market conditions over the pandemic which flattered their growth prospects. Many institutions were naïve to back these at such high valuations and they are now paying the price. The artificial valuations assigned to IPOs, which are priced by brokers and the companies themselves, is a reason why we are reluctant investors at IPO and like to see companies deliver on public markets first.

The valuations of some better-established AIM companies have looked stretched for a while and if growth prospects are determined to be less stellar than originally anticipated (something experienced with one of our stocks this week) share price falls are justified, however, not to the extent that we have seen, as Mr Market’s pessimism becomes excessive.

Conversely, the valuations of some excellent highly profitable companies, with attractive growth prospects, have also been pulled down to extremely attractive levels, offering compelling buying opportunities.

To all-intents and purposes, at times like these, we consider that long-term holders of small cap shares should notionally consider the stock market to be closed, that is unless you are a buyer. With the war only in its first week, the volatility is likely to continue for a while longer.

Fundamental Asset Management
www.fundamentalasset.com

Attributed to Nathan Mayer Rothschild during the Napoleonic wars, it’s pertinent to consider the above statement at the current time as Russia invades Ukraine and stock markets plunge – at the time of writing the UK stock market is down 3%.

But how have wars really affected stock markets?

Research from LPL Financial indicates that stocks have largely shrugged off past geopolitical conflicts. “As serious as this escalation is, previous experiences have indicated it may be unlikely to have a material impact on U.S. economic fundamentals or corporate profits,” said LPL Financial Chief Investment Strategist John Lynch.

The table below, courtesy of LPL Financial, summarises the stock market reaction to major geopolitical events going back to the Pearl Harbor Attack of 1941.

Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait in 1990 offers an interesting guide and resulted in a 16.9% total drawdown in the S&P 500 Index over the course of 71 days; it subsequently took 189 days to recover.

However, history tells us that it’s the periods of uncertainty, such as those experienced over recent weeks, when stocks suffer the most.

In 2015, researchers at the Swiss Finance Institute looked at U.S. military conflicts after World War II and found that in cases when there is a pre-war phase, an increase in the war likelihood tends to decrease stock prices, but the ultimate outbreak of a war increases them. However, in cases when a war starts as a surprise, the outbreak of a war decreases stock prices. They called this phenomenon “the war puzzle” and said there is no clear explanation why stocks increase significantly once war breaks out after a prelude.

Similarly, Mark Armbruster, the president of Armbruster Capital Management, studied the period from 1926 through July 2013 and found that stock market volatility was actually lower during periods of war. “Intuitively, one would expect the uncertainty of the geopolitical environment to spill over into the stock market. However, that has not been the case, except during the Gulf War when volatility was roughly in line with the historical average,” he said.

“Part of the reason for the calm may lie in the changing structure of global oil markets and how the U.S. economy has become less vulnerable to energy price swings,” said JPMorgan Funds chief global strategist David Kelly in a note. “Part of the reason may be purely psychological. Today’s investors have seen the stock market recover from both 9/11 and the Great Financial Crisis, arguably the greatest geopolitical and economic shocks of our time. This makes it easier for investors to shrug off other events.”

A conflict with Russia can also cause volatile oil markets, as Russia is a key producer of crude oil and natural gas, with pipelines feeding many parts of Europe. If Russia were to close the taps, or have its oil infrastructure damaged, it could lead to higher energy prices – the oil price has now risen above $100 a barrel for first time since 2014. Interruptions to the ports around the Black and Baltic Seas could also create even bigger shipping headaches and lead to food inflation as grains and other staples remain stuck at sea.

What does this mean for your portfolio?

The uncertainty of recent weeks has already brought a sharp sell-off in share prices, even before today’s events. The S&P500 index, which all other markets generally follow, is already 12% down on the highs hit at the beginning of the year. The main UK stock market has fared somewhat better in the short term and is only 5% lower, although that should be considered in the context of it not going anywhere over the past 5 years, while the S&P500 has climbed 79%, even after recent falls.

As we would expect, smaller companies and notably growth companies on AIM, have fared worst of all, with the AIM Index down 23% from the highs hit at the beginning of September 2021 and 18% in the quarter to date, with the latter broadly in-line with our AIM portfolios.

Much of this fall is down to inflationary fears and the prospect of a rise in interest rates, with so-called ‘growth stocks’, impacted more than old-economy stocks and news of the invasion impacting things further.  As we have commented previously, valuations of some of the earlier-stage and more speculative companies of AIM have also looked somewhat overheated for a while and a pull-back was long overdue.

In the short-term, this has little or nothing to do with companies results or indeed their prospects, it’s simply a matter of general sentiment, which sees small sellers of less liquid smaller companies materially impact share prices, in the absence of buyers.

At times like this the best course of action, which we have followed steadfastly since our founding in 2004, is to sit patiently and wait for the opportunities to arise, as they surely will and, in some cases, already have.

We remain comfortable with our portfolio companies, which remain good businesses (whatever the stock market may currently imply) and set to deliver strong returns to shareholders over the coming years.

While the plunging stock market might be a concern, there are clearly far more meaningful consequences of war and our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine at this terrible time.

Fundamental Asset Management

www.fundamentalasset.com

Since hitting a high at the beginning of September, when its valuation touched £150 billion, the AIM market has struggled to make any progress, with the latest discovery of a new Covid-19 variant also pushing stocks lower across the board.

Some of AIM’s larger and more richly valued companies have been particularly weak over recent months as investors have been tempted to lock in profits after a very strong bounce from the lows of 2020 and the realisation that the short term could still prove challenging. Indeed, having benefited from a relatively benign environment of government support and shareholder forgiveness over much of the pandemic, we have started to see a more normal reaction to profit warnings from investors, with some significant share price sell-offs. Even those reporting what appear to be excellent results (which thankfully applies to many of our portfolio holdings) have seen their shares slide, with investors demanding ever greater returns and growth from the richly valued.

We have been investing in AIM for Inheritance Tax planning purposes since 2004 and experienced numerous different market conditions over this period.

Stock markets occasionally need to take breather and AIM’s recent underperformance relative to the main UK stock market comes as no surprise to us following a period of exceptional outperformance in 2020 and the beginning of 2021.

At times like this, when share prices are tumbling, for no stock specific reason, it’s often tempting to start re-shuffling portfolios, manically trading in search of the next great potential opportunity. However, our experience over the past 17 years has suggested doing nothing is generally the best course of action.

We question the logic of selling out of a high-quality company with strong long-term growth prospects, to reinvest in a lesser business with more modest prospects, simply on marginal valuation grounds. Experience has shown that high-quality smaller companies are more highly valued for good reason and, unless there is a fundamental change in their long-term growth prospects, it’s worth sticking with them.

Nevertheless, we have sold out of one core holding in the period following a disappointing trading update and our reassessment of its long term potential.

Please have a look at some of our educational webinars, which can be found here and expand on our investing philosophy and the reality of investing in AIM for Inheritance Tax planning purposes, notably during turbulent stock markets.

Our webinar from August 2020 ‘All you need to know about investing in AIM for Inheritance tax’ covers the basics of our AIM IHT portfolios.

Of more relevance to the current market, our webinar from 30 September 2020 ‘The Truth about Risk in AIM’ clarifies how we manage risk.

If you would like to discuss our AIM IHT portfolios please call us on 01923 713890 or email [email protected]

London’s AIM market had a remarkable 2020, ending the year with its market value at an all-time high and with the AIM Index also significantly outperforming other UK main market indices. But what drove this remarkable performance in such a challenging year?

AIM (formerly known as the Alternative Investment Market) closed 2020 with 819 companies and a total stock market value of £131 billion. While there was a net decline of 44 companies from 2019, the overall market value was £16.9 billion higher. A lot of the strong performance came from companies qualifying for the popular Inheritance Tax planning reliefs.

The AIM index continues to be dominated by relatively few large companies, with AIM’s twenty largest companies valued at £45 billion, representing 34% of the total value of AIM. At the end of the year there were a record 24 AIM companies valued at more than £1 billion each, compared to only 16 at the end of 2019.

With its shares up 42% in 2020, ASOS closed the year as AIM’s largest company, valued at £4.8 billion, having assumed the crown from online fashion rival Boohoo Group, which came in second, valued at £4.35 billion, despite attracting criticism for poor working conditions at its suppliers and questionable corporate governance.

AIM’s Leisure Goods sector was another beneficiary of the pandemic seeing its value soar £3.7 billion to £7 billion, driven by strong trading from video gaming companies, three of which were valued at more than £1billion each at the year end, with Codemasters Group not far behind.

AIM subsequently lost Codemasters as it was acquired by US giant Electronic Arts. It’s a shame to see another fast-growing UK company acquired by an overseas rival, but this is very much the nature of AIM, with UK shareholders seemingly unwilling to back the longer-term growth opportunity. Codemasters was a constituent of our AIM Inheritance Tax portfolios.

Having attracted little attention for many years, many of AIM’s small healthcare companies were quick to develop tests for Covid-19, subsequently benefiting from explosive demand and share price growth.

The value of AIM’s Healthcare related companies, encompassing the sub-sectors of Medical Equipment and Services and Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, rose £5 billion in value to £17 billion.

There were big moves from anything involved in Covid-19 testing and vaccine development, with companies in these areas adding £1.6 billion of market value. The Healthcare sector also brought AIM’s top performer in the year in Novacyt, which received large orders from the UK’s Department of Health for its Covid-19 tests, helping to lift the shares over 6000% in the period.

With many countries (and notably Germany) getting behind hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas, there was growing interest in hydrogen-based energy, which is being pushed as a solution to fill the energy gap left from the impending closure of nuclear and coal-fired power stations.

AIM has several hydrogen fuel cell companies, whose shares soared over the course of the year, despite the challenges of the pandemic, adding £5.9 billion in market value to the Alternative Energy sector. Both ITM Power and Ceres Power closed the year valued at more than £2 billion each, with shares of the former up 600%.

AIM’s Technology sector consisting of 113 companies, encompassing the sub sectors of Software, Hardware and Telecommunications related activities, proved extremely resilient with its value rising £4 billion to £18 billion.

Our associates Investor’s Champion provided a review of AIM’s electrifying performance in 2020 in this update here.

AIM’s outperformance relative to the main UK market was driven by the latter having no exposure to video gaming and hydrogen fuel cells, two sectors seeing exceptional share price gains, and relatively little pure exposure to niche software, technology and online retail. The UK main market also continues to suffer from a distinct lack of growth!

The AIM of today consists of a far greater number of good quality businesses, many of which are delivering far more impressive growth than their peers on the main market and are also suitable for AIM Inheritance Tax portfolios.

As individuals own 25.1% of AIM companies, against just 11.3% of FTSE 100 companies, UK private investors will also have benefited very nicely from this outperformance and supported many fast growing UK businesses.

To benefit from the Inheritance Tax planning reliefs, individuals need to own the qualifying AIM shares directly in a segregated portfolio in their own name i.e. the tax benefit cannot be gained through investing via a collective/fund structure. In support of this, a growing number of financial advisors embrace AIM and AIM Inheritance Tax portfolios, which can also be accessed through a number of advisor wrap platforms.

We discuss AIM’s impressive performance in 2020 and potential themes to follow in 2021 in our Webinar here.  

Click the picture below to register for the session.

 You can find out more about Fundamental Asset Management’s high performing AIM IHT ISA and AIM Inheritance Tax portfolio service, which has been delivering exceptional investment returns for more than 16 years, from the link here.

We also have an Adviser Centre with a wealth of information to support financial advisers including case studies, adviser webinars, guides and contact details.