Companies looking for a way to raise equity without the challenges of being public in the U.S. are increasingly turning to the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Comparable to the Nasdaq Small-Cap exchange, AIM boasted 1,021 listed companies at the beginning of 2005 with total market capitalization of $61 billion and $28 billion in total new money raised. "AIM offers investment diversity with the opportunity to invest in a plethora of all industries," Dan McClory of Hunter Wise Financial Group LLC said at a recent program in Houston. "It has tremendous liquidity with 300 million shares traded every day. That's three times higher than the all-time high in New York." The costs of capital and underwriting discounts at AIM are less than in the U.S. and fewer public -company investment targets exist for a vast amount of London institutional capital, McClory said. IPO costs on AIM are also significantly less and there are no "orphan" companies because AIM requires a nominated advisor and nominated broker at all times to make markets and provide research, he added. "Why get in line at the SEC?" McClory said. "Go to London and open off-Broadway. Listing in London won't diminish your opportunity to list in the U.S."
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