London AIM Has Shrunk Its Lowest In 23 Years Due To Potential Inheritance Tax Reforms

According to the research commissioned by the London Stock Exchange (LSEG), AIM companies paid £5.4 billion in corporate tax and contributed £68 billion in gross value added to the economy of the United Kingdom last year.

The Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London has shrunk to its lowest level in 23 years since investors and business owners anticipated the elimination of inheritance tax from the budget.

According to the accountancy group UHY Hacker Young, 92 companies have delisted from the London AIM, the junior stock market in London, in the past 12 months, reducing the total number of companies listed on AIM to 695.

Since the general election in July, twenty-six companies have been delisted from AIM, bringing the total of companies below 700 for the first time since 2001.

Hacker Young from UHY claimed that there is a change that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, would eliminate inheritance tax (IHT) relief for AIM shares. Due to that, the index declined as the market had only ten companies listed in the last year.

The value of the AIM market has decreased by 6% since Labour won the election on July 4, whereas the blue-chip FTSE 100 index has not changed during that time. The value of AIM was reduced by more than 10% when Rishi Sunak called the election in May.

Under the existing regulations, AIM shares held for more than two years at the time of death can avoid inheritance tax as they are qualified for business property relief. Because of this regulation, it became attractive to wealthy families who wanted to pass on more of their income to their descendants without paying any tax.

Colin Wright, the partner and group head at UHY Hacker Young, expressed his opinion about how reducing the inheritance tax on AIM shares would not help, but instead, the government would need to urgently address how it can help AIM as many companies are leaving the exchange.

He added that the government needs to maximize the incentives for the investors and companies in small-cap since only a few companies are in AIM, and not many companies are looking to get listed in AIM.

Dominic Tayler, the managing director at Oakglen Wealth for the UK business, states that the companies used business relief-based funds to buy almost 15% of the shares in AIM due to inheritance tax purposes.

Taylor states that there has been a decline in the liquidity in AIM in recent years as investors have shifted to passive, or tracker, funds that follow the main market moves and as the pension funds have ignored small businesses.

It got worse due to some speculations about business relief for AIM shares removed in the upcoming budget. According to Taylor, it was detrimental to the business and long-term savers who were a significant part of private investment.

This month, the British online retailer N Brown also joined the companies leaving AIM by accepting an offer from Joshua Alliance to buy, whose family owns the business.

Alliance stated that N Brown was not benefitting from being listed in the AIM market and would have to pay high expenses associated with the AIM market.

According to the research commissioned by the London Stock Exchange (LSEG), AIM companies paid £5.4 billion in corporate tax and contributed £68 billion in gross value added to the economy of the United Kingdom last year.

In September, Marcus Stuttard, the head of AIM and UK primary markets in LSEG, stated that AIM helped over 4000 businesses to raise more than £135 billion from investors since 1995.

Stuttard argued that AIM significantly contributed to the UK economy by creating jobs, expanding the supply chain, and through corporate tax contributions.

As AIM celebrated its 30th anniversary, many companies in the past and present have significantly contributed positively to the economic growth. It is crucial to protect the market so that companies who decide to list themselves will have a positive legacy of economic growth and get returns from investors and savers.