How safe are AIM 100 companies?

switch76

How does the risk of AIM 100 companies compare to those on the main market?

blinko

switch76 wrote: »

How does the risk of AIM 100 companies compare to those on the main market?

im not sure what your asking ?

ses6jwg

30% of new listings on AIM go bust within a year, choose carefully.

There are plenty of gems, I have made thousands off AIM companies such as Rockhopper and Gulf Keystone.

Others have lost thousands on firms like Braemore Resources, Tower Resources.

Be careful, it's very volatile.

blinko

how much did you get RKH and GKP for ? and yeah as above its boom and bust

SEY another example actually although they arent bust

switch76

blinko wrote: »

im not sure what your asking ?

I want to know what is the chance of a company in the AIM 100 going bankrupt compared to a company in the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and FTSE All Share.

For people who buy shares on the main market of the stock exchange, are you happy to buy shares on AIM?

purch

As in all investing, it's research that counts.

You will find information on AIM listed companies harder to find, so that in itself should make you more wary.

blinko

switch76 wrote: »

I want to know what is the chance of a company in the AIM 100 going bankrupt compared to a company in the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and FTSE All Share.

For people who buy shares on the main market of the stock exchange, are you happy to buy shares on AIM?

im sorry but if thats what your asking i think you know the answer yourself

For people who buy shares on the main market of the stock exchange, are you happy to buy shares on AIM?

what do you think the answer to this is ?

im sorry to be rude but your questionsa re a waste of bandwidth

switch76

There could be a wide variety of answers to the question. For instance people might say:
1) I treat AIM 100 shares just like I would ordinary shares
2) I'm happy to buy them but I would only invest x% of what I normally would
3) I'd never buy them because...

Also I don't know if the rules that AIM companies follow makes a huge difference or if it's just some accounting technicality. Maybe a lot of companies move onto the main market within a few years or maybe only a few progress.

The top companies on AIM might be safer than shares outside the FTSE 350. I don't know. That's why I'm asking.

Loughton_Monkey

switch76 wrote: »

There could be a wide variety of answers to the question. For instance people might say:
1) I treat AIM 100 shares just like I would ordinary shares
2) I'm happy to buy them but I would only invest x% of what I normally would
3) I'd never buy them because...

Unless you fell off a Christmas tree, you must know that an AIM share is massively more risky than a FTSE100.

There's also another thing. FTSE100 shares get traded in great volumes every day, and the 'bid/offer' spread is relatively small and the price fully reflects 'the market'.

AIM shares, on the other hand, usually trade extremely sluggishly, and the bid/offer spreads are absolutely 'exhorbitant' - often up to 15%, so they need to strike oil before you will ever get your money back.

Not only that, the actual price is largely dictated by two or three 'market makers' whose job it is to set up the two prices. Far be it from me to cast aspersions, but I have heard that (either through boredom or greed) they will mometarily reduce a price from, say, 80 pence down to 30 pence, and back up again.

Those people with an electronic 'Stop' on their trading account therefore wake up one day and find their £800 of shares sold out at £300, and yet current market value remains around £800.

How sleazy is that?

Personally, my 12 foot pole has never touched such an item, and never will.

Biggles

I'm sorry you've had some unhelpful, even rude, answers to your question.

It's true that some of the newer, smaller AIM companies are volatile, have a wide spread and are difficult to trade. But they are the exception.

Your original question was about AIM 100 shares; these are the larger, more stable and more liquid shares and there is very little difference between these and many of the smaller main-market shares outside the FTSE 350. Yes, there has to be an increased risk, due to the lower regulationary requirements of AIM if nothing else, but most of the real investment opportunities are AIM companies.

cashbackproblems

High risk, high reward.
I have lost money on PMK but made abit on SXX and Eros (still holding), picking good companies form a profitable part of a portfolio.