Wealth manager Quilter Cheviot is to launch a discretionary managed Aim portfolio strategy for UK investors.
Most Aim shares qualify for business relief, formerly business property relief, which means the shares are exempt from inheritance tax if held for two years before death.
Quilter Cheviot have made clear it intends to hold onto the stocks for at least long enough that investors holdings will be exempt from inheritance tax.
The stocks will be picked by Alan McIntosh, chief investment strategist at Quilter Cheviot, and Dan Nickols, who runs the £1.3bn Old Mutual UK Smaller Companies fund.
This fund has returned 86 per cent over the past three years to 28 November, compared with 56 per cent for the average fund in the IA UK Smaller Companies sector in the same time period.
Aim shares that generate the majority of their business from property, or are themselves holding companies for other investments, do not qualify for business property relief.
Mr McIntosh said: “Diversification is important in any investment strategy. With our Aim offering, we will seek to identify financially strong, growth orientated investment opportunities from an expanding market, adding another valuable element to how we manage our clients’ assets.”
Adrian Lowcock, investment director at Architas said: “Aim portfolios are another tax efficient investment vehicle which can be used to protect an investors from capital gains and potentially inheritance tax.
"Because of the focus on Aim stocks they tend to feature as an investment in larger portfolio’s after the more mainstream Isa and Sipp wrappers have been used.
However he added a word of caution to investors.
“Don’t let the tax reliefs be the main driver for an investment decision and whilst Aim shares can be exciting and there is the potential for fast growth the market overall has failed to live up to this expectation – there are a lot of Aim companies which fail or don’t go anywhere for years – performance is key, but can take a few years to become visible.”
David.Thorpe@ft.com
