This year’s new VCT (venture capital trust) offer season, where investors can apply for new shares and enjoy immediate tax benefits, is in full swing. Each year, VCTs seem to attract money faster than the previous year, meaning interested investors need to act fast once offers go live, although it is important to understand all the risks involved before making an investment decision. Experts ...

One of AIM’s biggest success stories is finally packing its bags and moving to London’s Main Market. Fashion retailer ASOS (ASC:AIM) will switch markets by the end of February and this event could potentially see a few other businesses do the same. AIM was set up as a market for young companies to access capital markets and tap up investors for cash to help them grow, as well as use their ...

Shares in global small and mid cap investment trust Smithson (SSON) traded sideways at £18.86, despite a decidedly sub-par performance in the first half and a shortfall in dividend income. For the six months to June, the total net asset value return per share was just 5.9% against a 12.4% return for the MSCI World Small and Mid-Cap Index. In addition, dividend income was lower than ...

Shares in life sciences research tools Abcam (ABC:AIM) gained 2% to £13.86 after the company agreed to acquire BioVision for $340 million in cash. The company said that Biovision is a fast-growing distributer of life science tools to biopharma firms and diagnostic and academic customers. Biovision specialises in cellular assays and epigenetics which is the study of heritable changes to a ...

Individuals looking to shield wealth from inheritance tax should consider London’s AIM stock market as investing in certain shares can help keep the taxman at bay. The standard rate of inheritance tax is 40% which is a meaningful amount. AIM shares that qualify for business property relief and held for at least two years do not form part of the estate for inheritance tax purposes and can be ...

Following the professionals and mirroring what they do has long been a strategy used by some investors. John from Ruislip is among that group and follows the strategies of three well-known UK fund managers – Terry Smith, Nick Train and Keith Ashworth-Lord. He believes ‘they all clearly define their strategies, so they are easy to copy, they act as my mentors’, and has been in contact ...

The new venture capital trust (VCT) offer season is now in full swing where investors can apply for new shares and enjoy immediate tax benefits. Recent offers from Amati AIM VCT and Octopus AIM VCT have already closed, having hit their subscription target. Others are filling up quickly. Each year VCTs seem to attract money faster than the previous year, meaning interested investors need to ...

UK stocks started the week strongly after further signs of progress towards a coronavirus vaccine. Pharma giant AstraZeneca (AZN) has resumed phase three of its vaccine trial, while investor sentiment was also boosted by comments from Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla, who believes a vaccine could be ready for approval as soon as next month, and for distribution by the end of the year. In ...

UK stock markets lost their modest early gains on Monday as investors continued to mull the damage the coronavirus pandemic is having on the global economy and company earnings. While the benchmark FTSE 100 nudged 0.5% higher in early deals, that positive momentum proved short-lived, with the UK's leading index falling 0.9% into the red at 5,737.31. The more domestic facing FTSE 250 saw a ...

Life science research tools supplier Abcam (ABC) reported a 22.8% fall in pre-tax profit for the half-year ended 31 December 2019 to £26m as it stepped up investments in line with its five-year strategy. The shares fell 9% to £11.5 on a tough day which saw the FTSE down 6.5%. Chief executive Alan Hirzel commented: ‘In China, we are starting to see a return to normal operations, and we will ...

The FTSE 100 has recorded one of its biggest ever one-day drops after plunging a staggering 9% shortly after the market open on Monday. The UK's benchmark index fell a whopping 600 points to 5,919, after oil plunged an incredible 30%. After Saudi Arabia launched a price war over the weekend, following the collapse of its oil-cutting alliance with Russia, the price of crude has dropped to ...

A ‘rockstar’ biotech entrepreneur, the first company boss in a decade to sell shares and a trio of directors cashing in were all involved in the biggest director deals of the past week. The three biggest deals involve biotech company Abcam (ABC:AIM), ventilation product supplier Volution (FAN) and office real estate company Workspace (WKP). The biggest of these comes from Abcam founder ...

UK markets opened on the front foot after new all-time highs were registered in the US overnight as relative calm returned following US-Iranian tensions last week. By 9.15am the FTSE 100 index was 0.4% higher at 7,360 points while the mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.25% at 21,696 points. Airlines and travel stocks continued to benefit from lower oil prices as IAG Group (IAG) and Easy Jet ...

Controversial Brexiteer hedge fund manager Crispin Odey is fond of saying that cycles never die, or what goes up inevitably comes back down. What this means is that investors can sometimes mistake structural growth for cyclical growth. This can be applied to a company’s valuation too, which expands and contracts in ‘cycles’ depending how a company’s earnings are progressing compared to ...

Shares in life science research tools supplier Abcam (ABC:AIM) have slumped by 16% to £11.25 after first-half sales growth missed expectations and it says there will be no improvement in sales growth in the second half of the year. Sales for the six months to 31 December 2018 grew by 10%. Analysts had forecast 11% growth. The company is also downbeat on its outlook as it warns of continued ...

Markets start the week on a positive note on signs that the US and China are close to agreeing a tariff deal which could put an end to the trade war. Asian stocks climb with China’s Shanghai Composite and Japan Nikkei index both gaining 1% while oil prices also gain ground and the US Dollar slips. In the UK the FTSE 100 index gains 0.3% to 7,127 points with most sectors trading higher bar ...

It is fair to say that 2018 is shaping up to be a difficult year for investors. Stocks are volatile, and the market is in very unforgiving mood with even the hint of bad news prompting big falls in company share prices. Already this year funerals provider Dignity (DTY) announced a complete change to its business model which sparked an immediate halving of its share price while technology firms ...

Abcam (ABC:AIM) is on track to hit its full year 10% sales growth target, delivering 11% growth in the six months to 31 December 2017. The shares tick up 1.4% to £10.41 on the reassuring news. Abcam supplies protein research tools to life scientists, including antibodies and tissue imaging tools. The company’s strong trading is particularly evident in China with sales growth of over ...

Blue-chips are trading at record highs in early dealings, the fabulous FTSE 100 up 12.9 points at 7,709, despite fairly little in the way of UK corporate news to give direction and with all eyes on US non-farm payrolls later on. Nevertheless, global geotechnical contractor Keller (KLR) climbs 28p or 3% higher to 987p on news the passing of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act in the US will benefit its ...

There’s a neat trick investors can use to gain exposure to international earnings without buying a single overseas-listed stock. The US, Europe, China, India plus emerging markets in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East are all accessible from the relative comfort of the London stock market. Companies in the FTSE 100 collectively earn far more from overseas markets than they do ...