Last week saw the annual AIM conference at the London Stock Exchange (LON:LSE) which was well-attended by a mix of company CEOs, advisers and journalists covering a range of topics, not least fiscal incentives for SMEs, liquidity and how companies should approach investor relations.
The morning session was kicked off by the Head of AIM, Marcus Stuttard, after the LSE’s CEO Xavier Rolet who had been scheduled to speak was called away on urgent business (in Toronto, one would assume!). The theme of Mr Stuttard’s introduction was the outlook for AIM and ongoing initiatives, particularly the importance of fiscal incentives for smaller companies. Although investors who endured the bid/ask spreads in 2008/09 might disagree, he argued convincingly that AIM had shown its maturity through the credit crunch, given the way it weathered the storm with numerous companies still able to raise proceeds despite the financial crisis. Given the recent Budget and the ongoing MIFID consultation, AIM is clearly pleased to see that SMEs are at the forefront of policymakers' minds as the drivers of economic recovery. In this respect, Stuttard noted that the LSE has “been working closely with the government and European policy makers to find ways of encouraging equity investment in growing businesses” and welcomed the government's plans to increase the qualifying limits for VCT investment to include companies with up to 250 employees and £15m gross assets.
In a display of the government’s support for AIM (particularly impressive given that this was the day after the Budget), the keynote address was given by Mark Hoban, Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Reflecting the thinking evident in last years’ “Financing a Private Sector Recovery” green paper, Mark Hoban MP noted that SMEs play a vital role in the UK's economy, providing both jobs and services throughout the UK and beyond. He said that the government is committed to supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises through a range of initiatives including reform of EIS and VCT, funding for new enterprise zones and improving access to credit facilities for smaller companies. In the Q&A, Mr Hoban was asked about the perennial question about inclusion of AIM shares in ISAs but his response suggests that, given the country’s fiscal position, this was unlikely to be forthcoming – and that the EIS/VCT support was essentially an alternative to doing this. Encouragingly, it seems that…
