Broker recommendations for small AIM stocks.

DireEmblem

As above, I'm looking for a broker to purchase some small AIM stocks that I like the fundamentals of.

Right now I generally only have HL, but I would like to drip feed into them over time, which means the trading fees are going to cause a bit more of a headwind to get into profitability.

george4064

Drip feeding into small individual AIM stocks does not sound like a good idea at all, wherever you go your returns will initially be gobbled up by wide bid-offer spreads and dealing commission.

I don’t know how much of your portfolio you were thinking of allocating to these small AIM stocks, but you’d be far better off buying an active investment trust that invests in UK small caps.

DireEmblem

george4064 said:

 your returns will initially be gobbled up by wide bid-offer spreads and dealing commission.

Thats what I'm looking at, is there a broker with reasonable costs that it is worth dripping in small amounts to build up an AIM portfolio of stocks I have personally chosen.

I cant find a site that tells you what stocks can be purchased where, or what market segments are available where without having to sign up.

eskbanker

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if your researching capabilities don't extend as far as being able to identify suitable brokers for buying AIM stocks, what makes you believe that you'd be able to conduct any sort of meaningful due diligence on the stocks themselves?

NedS

Presumably the hope when investing in AIM stocks is for stellar capital gains. As such, a S&S ISA is probably the most suitable vehicle so your stellar returns are not impacted by large CGT bills. Pretty much any all of market S&S ISA should allow you to purchase and hold companies listed on the AIM. When you find the next ASOS (up over 1000 fold in 10 years), a few percent on trading fees is not going to make a significant dent in your huge profits.

kuratowski

One other possible reason to invest directly in AIM stocks is to reduce an expected IHT bill

Thrugelmir

x-o will charge you £5.95p per trade. No charges for holding a GIA account. 

DireEmblem

eskbanker said:

if your researching capabilities don't extend as far as being able to identify suitable brokers for buying AIM stocks

Not all retail brokers make it clear or easy to determine what stocks are available, or market segments missing on their platform before you sign up.  I thought asking on a forum such as this, that I may get on the off chance an open opinion of brokers people found had generally good coverage in the AIM area.  I could then focus my review on them with the intent to potentially sign up if worth while.  This would then mean I would not have to potentially waste as much time having to give away my personal details opening several accounts that may not even be of any use.  Yes I could request accounts to be closed, but I suspect they would have to hold on to records for a period of time as well.

For example Interactive Broker generally doesn't cover stocks on the ASX1 segment, yet several of these are in the AIM100 so I know that is of no use.

https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=2222&exch=lse

Any partners that use interactive brokers to offer services can already potentially also be written off.

Hope this helps explain, but perhaps my original post was a bit too simple.  I like the phrase 'you dont know what you dont know', and although you shouldn't take advice from forums/YouTube/tiktoks, I do value input, particular if it helps raise something I had not considered before.

In terms of due diligence, well I have 16 years experience as a Fund Accountant, not directly in stock selection, but supportive of that role in an institutional capacity.  Personally I am a long term investor, and generally stick to a basket of funds and review their weightings no more once a year, and would recommend that to most retail investors.  Now I have more time on my hands, I am looking to setup my own small long term portfolio of mid to small cap stocks to complement my existing investments.

coastline

From here its possible to view a list from FTSE AIM . The site is a bit clunky but I got there. Dealing costs are £6 a share and platform fees are 0.1% when stocks , IT's , ETF's are held. Funds are 0.2%.

Home - Barclays Smart Investor (webfg.com)

From the Market Data tab you need Index Factsheet and the FTSE AIM link should be there. I can see 72 pages so it must be comprehensive.

Index factsheet - Barclays Smart Investor (webfg.com)

This is normally an advantage. The more quotes the better.

 Barclays Price Improver | Barclays Smart Investor

sevenhills

DireEmblem said:

Thats what I'm looking at, is there a broker with reasonable costs that it is worth dripping in small amounts to build up an AIM portfolio of stocks I have personally chosen.

It depends what you consider to be a small amount. I have bought shares to the value of around £500 which is really not enough. I aim to invest £1,000+ but I do sometimes get sidetracked to a share which I believe is good value.

Thrugelmir

sevenhills said:

DireEmblem said:

Thats what I'm looking at, is there a broker with reasonable costs that it is worth dripping in small amounts to build up an AIM portfolio of stocks I have personally chosen.

It depends what you consider to be a small amount. I have bought shares to the value of around £500 which is really not enough. I aim to invest £1,000+ but I do sometimes get sidetracked to a share which I believe is good value.

AIM shares tend to be far more volatile. Personally I follow the companies for a while before deciding whether to invest or not. When I do invest I like to build a decent stake.