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Important warning

Material (including tips) contained on this website/s is for general information only and is not intended to be relied upon by individual readers in making (or refraining from making) any specific investment decision. Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decisions. Financial Times Business Limited does not accept any liability for any loss suffered by any user as a result of any such decision.

Do remember, particularly if you are new to stock market investment, that the prices of shares and other investments can fall sharply. You may not get back the money you originally invested. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future.

In comparing the investments described in this publication, you should bear in mind that the nature of such investments and of the returns, risks and charges differ from one investment to another. Smaller companies with a short track record by their nature tend to be more risky than larger, well-established companies. The investments and services mentioned in this publication will not be suitable for all readers. In some cases (for example, but without limitation, where an investment or service is provided by a party who is not authorised by the Financial Services Authority) you would not be protected by the investor protection measures required under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: for the sake of illustration only, you might not be able to claim under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Provision of the investments or services mentioned on this website may be restricted by law depending on the jurisdiction in which you are resident, and on what type of investor you are. If you have any doubts about the suitability or legality of any investment or service, you should take appropriate professional advice.

The views and recommendations on this website/s are based on information from a variety of sources. Although these are believed to be reliable, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information on the website/s.

While we require our journalists and editorial staff to comply with the Press Complaints Commission Code of Practice, you should be aware that they may have interests in investments and/or providers of services referred to on this website/s.

Aim and Ofex

Aim and Ofex companies carry a greater degree of risk than main market companies. Aim, run by the London Stock Exchange, is less regulated than the main market. Ofex, run by a stockbroker, is an unregulated trading facility. Some shares, including smaller companies traded on the main market, are difficult to buy and sell. On occasions investors may be unable to trade the shares or will have to trade at a worse price than they expect. See our section on Marketability below for further explanation.

Foreign-currency denominated investments

Changes in the rates of exchange of foreign currencies (particularly into pounds sterling) may adversely affect the value or price of, or income from, investments denominated in a currency other than sterling.

Front-end loading

In the case of certain investments deductions for charges and expenses are not made uniformly throughout the life of the investment, but loaded disproportionately onto the early years. This applies widely to life assurance and pension policies, unit trusts and personal equity plans. If you withdraw from such investments in the early years you may not get back the amount you invested.

Marketability

Our UK company results tables contain various bits of information to help assess how easy it will be to buy or sell shares. The touch is the narrowest spread available between a buy and sell price. The larger the difference between them, the more difficult it will be to deal. As a general rule, it is easier to deal in larger companies than smaller ones, so we've included additional information for smaller companies. Normal market size is based on the average size of deals made over the past 12 months in a share, and is the maximum size a market maker is obliged to deal in at the price he is quoting. Market makers shows how many make a market in the shares - the more there are, the easier it will be to deal. SEATS/Bulletin Board Shares traded on these two systems are difficult to deal in. The bulletin board is a matched bargain system. That means you cannot buy or sell shares unless another party is prepared to trade in the opposite direction. SEATS combines the bulletin board with one market maker. Stock Exchange automated trading system (SETS) means that all FTSE 100 shares are traded by automatically matching buyers and sellers. More companies will be included eventually. Betas are a measure of a share's price volatility compared with the FTSE All-Share index, based on weekly returns since the start of 1997, where a beta of 1 implies an in-line return. They will only feature if statistically relevant.

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