Institutional investment in AIM companies has risen for the second year in a row, shows research released today. 

Institutional investment in AIM companies has risen for the second year in a row, shows research released today.
 
The total value of institutional shareholdings on AIM is some £37.3 billion, according to Institutional Investors in AIM 2011, a research report from Growth Company Investor in association with Religare Capital Markets.
 
The figure marks a 14 per cent increase year-on-year.
 
The report, produced in conjunction with financial services group Religare, finds that BlackRock is the biggest institutional investor in AIM, with its stake in the market up from  £1.24 billion to £1.92 billion on the back of 11 new investments.
 
Investment in emerging markets-based companies makes up almost half (48 per cent) of all BlackRock’s holdings, and it now has shares in 43 companies operating in these regions, up from 34 last year.
 
Rick Thompson, head of London listings and broking for investment banking at Religare, comments: ‘The report highlights the continuing longer-term trend towards international investment.’
 
Thompson adds that the most active institutional investors in AIM are now increasing their exposure to these emerging markets, with the top ten investors accounting for £4.14 billion of investment in these territories, up from a previous sum of £3.79 billion.
 
Ownership of AIM is led by institutions with a 54 per cent share, followed by individual investors with 33 per cent and directors of AIM-quoted companies with 13 per cent.

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