AIM for Growth

Healthcare demand is on the up, driven by global thematic themes such as a rise in chronic diseases, increasingly sedentary lifestyles and aging populations. As a result, the sector is predicted to grow with global healthcare expenditure forecasted to increase at an annual rate of 5.4% up to 2020, reaching over US $10 trillion according to Deloitte.  DEMOGRHIC SHIFTS The world’s population is continuing to rise, with the United Nations predicting a one billion increase by 2025 with 300 million being the age of 65 or older. The growing population is also seeing a shift towards the middle class, with developing economies driving growth. The Brookings Institute predicts that 65% of the global population by 2030 will be middle class. The global population, due to increasing urbanisation and standards of living, are becoming increasingly sedentary. Consequently, this is driving the increase of chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity, with active lifestyles proven to ...

The growing emergence of digital platforms has seen the rise of companies such as Alphabet (Google), Uber and Deliveroo grow to global dominance. These companies are becoming ever prominent in society, highlighted by how ordinary terms have been replaced by brand equivalents such as to search the web is now ‘to Google it’ and ordering takeaway is now ‘I’ll get a Deliveroo’. These companies are disrupting the global economic market through technology-driven innovation, in which investment opportunities are rife. In this blog I look at the founding concepts of these companies through Srnicek’s work on platform capitalism and how this has presented investment opportunities within the different types of platforms.  PLATFORMS All companies mentioned are built on digital platforms, which monopolise and utilise data. For example, Google uses vast data amassed from Internet users and analyses it to produce highly segmented audiences that are more valuable to advertisers. As such, Go...

The UK law sector is one of the leading global legal markets, rated as the second largest in the world by fee income and was valued at £35.1 billion in 2018. This represents a 6.3% increase, or a 3.7% real increase if you factor in inflation from the previous year, showing a healthy growth within the sector. The market itself is very diverse with over 9,500 law firms and 91,000 solicitors in the UK showing not only the high demand for legal services but also the high levels of competition that exists. It is therefore important to look for firms that stand out in the market and can continue to deliver strong performance. MARKET The market looks set for sustained growth, with the Law Society predicting 2.2% average annual growth from 2019-2025 with a soft Brexit, or dropping to 1.5% with a 'harder' deal. Brexit will be a key factor on the sector’s growth rate due to its focus on the UK domestic market, increasing its sensitivity to Brexit outcomes and the surroundin...

If you like the look of FTSE 100 data giant Experian then it may be worth looking in a similar sector at the AIM growth company, GB Group. Due to less coverage on the index, there is potential for the stock to achieve relatively higher levels of growth and hence deliver greater returns over the medium to longer-term for investors. WHAT THEY DO GB Group is an identity management company, with a market cap of £1.13 billion and is listed on the software and services sector of the FTSE AIM All-Share index. The company centers on the analysis of data in a variety of services such as user identification, customer on-boarding, and employee screening. GB Group has performed well for investors in the past, achieving a 120% return for investors since 2016. In this blog, I explore why I think the business is positioned to continue to provide superior returns in the long run. BIG DATA I recently spoke about the growing importance of big data in today’s society, with the ...

Big data is becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday lives. It’s influencing all aspects of life, with an increasing reliance on technology such as smartphones and the growing usage of the internet of things (IoT) such as Amazon’s smart speaker Alexa. This has caused large inflows of big data that companies can use to their advantage, presenting a variety of investment opportunities. BIG DATA INDUSTRY  According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide revenues generated from big data are forecasted to increase by 12% from 2018, reaching $189.1 billion in 2019. Furthermore, looking specifically at the software and services sector, big data market revenues are projected to rise from $42 billion in 2018 to $103 billion by 2027. Positive forecasted growth is reflected by the amount of high performing companies that populate this sector in the FTSE AIM All-Share. Geographically, the United Kingdom will become the third-largest generator of big data ana...

In this blog I look at different funds, providing insight for personal investors. The advantage of funds is that they allow retail investors to pool investments so that they can spread risks by having access to a wider portfolio than they otherwise would be able to by themselves. GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY This blog will focus on funds specifically targeted at the Global technology market, with an emphasis on US technology companies such as Microsoft, Facebook and Alphabet (Google). For private investors in the UK, it can be expensive to invest abroad with higher costs such as currency exchange costs. However, by focusing on the UK in isolation limits your geographical asset allocation. This could increase investment risk but also decrease the potential investment opportunities on offer from foreign markets such as the US. FUNDS Three funds that look of interest are Polar Capital Global Technology, Janus Henderson Tech, and AXA Global Tech. I will look at each of the funds' equity ...

When investing in the UK market I normally focus my research on FSTE AIM stocks as I think this is where greater growth can be found as the FTSE 100 is very well covered in comparison to small and mid-cap stocks. This means that the market has priced in future growth for the relevant companies.  However, the FTSE 100 does offer a variety of companies that can provide a good source of steady growth to mitigate risk in your portfolio against smaller, higher-risk growth stocks. A FTSE 100 giant that I think will do well over the long term is Experian, providing a steady stream of growth to support an investor’s portfolio.  WHAT THEY DO? Experian is a global information servicing company, supplying global services to over a billion people. They are most famous for their credit checks business, currently one of the top three credit checking agencies globally, but they also offer a variety of information processing services.   From an investment perspective, th...