Beaufort Securities and WH Ireland move into top five most popular stockbrokers for Aim-listed firms as Finncap remains on top
A good quarter of adding new customers has pushed Beaufort Securities and WH Ireland into the top five stockbrokers to Aim-listed companies by client numbers, according to data published this morning.
Beaufort Securities has enjoyed a net gain of three new clients since July to reach 63 overall, making it the fourth most popular broker on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim), according to consultants Adviser Rankings.
Beaufort gained a joint mandate for miner Savannah Resources during the period, as well as adding cybersecurity specialists Falanx Group.
Finncap retains top spot for Aim-listed clients
Rank
(Previous)
October 17
July 17
1
1
FinnCap
107
110
2
2
Cenkos Securities
77
74
3
3
N+1 Singer
66
66
4
6
Beaufort Securities
63
60
5
6
WH Ireland
62
60
6
4
Numis Securities
61
61
7
4
Panmure Gordon
56
61
7
8
Peel Hunt
56
57
9
10
Cantor Fitzgerald
47
48
10
9
Allenby Capital
44
49
Read more: Numis steals the crown of top City stockbroker from JP Morgan Cazenove
Meanwhile, WH Ireland added two clients as it continues expansion following a poor 2016 to come to 62 overall, the fifth-biggest broker among Aim clients.
Finncap retained its top spot as by far the most popular broker for Aim-listed firms, with 107 clients. However, Cenkos Securities in second closed the gap, rising to 77 Aim clients overall.
N+1 Singer retained its third spot overall as client numbers remained flat.
Meanwhile City stalwart Panmure Gordon lost a net five clients to drop to joint seventh place overall, despite a recently unveiled turnaround plan under a new chief executive. The group was bought by former Barclays boss Bob Diamond and a Qatari investment bank in March.
Read more: New Panmure Gordon boss Ian Axe wants to retain broker’s “nice guy” image
The British stockbroking industry has come under pressure in recent years, with the small-cap brokers serving Aim-listed clients in particular struggling as demand for their services falls.
However, the rankings look very different when clients are listed by market capitalisation. Numis leads the way with Aim-listed clients worth £20bn overall.
Panmure Gordon moved up to third place by market capitalisation, with clients worth just shy of £10bn as the value of firms in the oil and gas sector almost tripled while a similar surge saw the total market capitalisation of Stockdale Securities’ Aim-listed clients almost double.
Read more: Barclays up to third in the FTSE 100 broking rankings