This time last year, investors were hoping that better times would lie ahead for the constituents of the Aim 100. After a nightmarish 2022, in which the index lost a third of its value in share price terms, the scene was set for a turnaround. Many thought interest rates were near to their peak; others pointed to overly doomy predictions for the UK economy as signs that the market had been oversold.
Those economic forecasts were indeed too pessimistic: the UK has dodged recession so far, and many consumer-facing businesses, to take the most obvious example, have displayed a resilience above and beyond consensus expectations.
The rates story, on the other hand, had much further to run than many suspected, and once that realisation hit home at the start of February Aim’s struggles resumed in earnest.