Most financial advisers and wealth managers (85%) are planning to increase their use of AIM listed companies that quality for business relief (BR) to help people reduce their liabilities, new research from TIME Investments has indicated.

The findings come as inheritance tax (IHT) receipts reached a record £7.1bn in 2022/23, compared to £6.1bn in the previous financial year.

TIME Investments’ research, based on a study of 100 UK financial advisers and wealth managers, highlighted the growing popularity of AIM as an IHT planning tool.

Seventy-two per cent of respondents said that 40-60% of their clients over the age of 50 currently hold BR qualifying AIM companies in their investment portfolio. This is a significant increase compared to three years ago, when only 43% said between 40-60% of their clients held BR qualifying AIM stocks, and 39% said less than 40% of their clients held them.

The study also considered the most important factors that advisers and wealth managers look for when choosing different AIM funds and services.

The most important was genuine active management through a qualitative investment approach, while the second most cited factor was funds that invest in larger and more established companies. In third was funds that invest in profitable and dividend paying companies.

Head of equity funds, at TIME Investments, Raymond Greaves, said: “Our research shows that advisers and wealth managers are increasingly turning to AIM as a tool to help mitigate the ever-increasing IHT burden. Using BR qualifying AIM investments looks like an untapped opportunity, as many investors over 50 do not yet have these holdings in their portfolio.”

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