Bestinvest enables IPO investments for clients

investmentweek.co.uk:

Jason Hollands, managing director of Bestinvest, told Investment Week the new offering was part of the firm’s “ongoing programme of improvements to Bestinvest”, and complimented its push to cut down trading costs for clients across its platform.

Via a collaboration with  PrimaryBid, a capital markets technology platform, customers will be able to purchase shares on the former, which will then be held in their Bestinvest Investment Account.

This will not be available within an ISA, SIPP, or joint account.

Jason Hollands, managing director of Bestinvest, told Investment Week the new offering was part of the firm's «ongoing programme of improvements to Bestinvest», and complimented its push to cut down trading costs for clients across its platform.

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«Since the heyday of the large privatisations in the eighties, private shareholders have gradually become squeezed out when it comes to getting access to IPOs and new share issues. These are now typically undertaken through placements and book builds among institutional investors,» Hollands said.

«The great thing about teaming up with Primary Bid is that the service enables private investors to invest in new share issues on the same terms as institutional investors and not as second-class citizens.»

IPO activity in the UK has been subdued in 2023, with just five companies launching on the London Stock Exchange in Q3 this year, something Hollands acknowledged about the IPO market in general the past two years.

He said was largely driven by the «years due to economic uncertainties, this may well lead to a flurry of companies coming to the market having bided their team when conditions improve».

«Therefo