How to Invest in FTSE AIM All Share Index Funds in 2025

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Putting your money into an index is a simple and convenient way to create an investment portfolio, especially if you’re just getting started with investing.

An index, like the FTSE AIM All Share, provides a snapshot of a particular section of the stock market, and by investing in it, you gain exposure to a diverse portfolio of stocks, which can help reduce risk compared to investing in individual companies.

One of the best ways to invest in the FTSE AIM All Share index is through Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). ETFs are designed to track the performance of an index and are highly convenient for beginners. They allow you to buy shares in the FTSE AIM All Share with just a few clicks.

Read on to learn how to invest in the FTSE AIM All Share effectively and explore the best methods to do so. Compare different investment strategies, available ETFs and index funds, and find out why FTSE AIM All Share index investing is a low-cost, relatively low-risk approach to growing your wealth over time.

How do I invest in the AXX index?

The easiest way is to sign up to a stock broker, open an investment account, and buy shares in an FTSE AIM All Share ETF. This guide explains how to do it:

Step 1. Sign up to eToro

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We recommend using eToro to invest in FTSE AIM All Share. Create your trading account and deposit some money using a payment method of your choice.

This is a fairly quick process that takes just 15-30 minutes, but you need to supply a form of photo ID to verify the account before you can use it.

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Step 2. Decide how to buy FTSE AIM All Share

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This boils down to choosing between an FTSE AIM All Share ETF or buying the stocks in the index manually. ETFs are generally better suited to investors who want to passively track the FTSE AIM All Share’s performance. Individual stocks offer a greater range of trading options and flexibility.

Step 3. Invest in the FTSE AIM All Share

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Sign into your trading account and search for the FTSE AIM All Share. Hit the ‘buy’ button and enter the details of your purchase, such as how much you want to spend. Hit ‘buy’ again to execute the trade.

Step 4. Monitor your investment

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When you buy a stock, the trade goes through more or less instantly, and you’ll be able to see your new open position in your trading account. ETF purchases can take longer, and if you buy outside of traditional trading hours it won’t go through until the next morning.

Your trading account will show the price change in the FTSE AIM All Share since you bought it, so you can see your profit/loss at a glance. Use that information, along with your own research, to decide when to sell the FTSE AIM All Share and close your position, ideally at a profit!

How much does it cost to invest in the FTSE AIM All Share index?

From $0 to $5, depending on how you invest. For each option, you must consider the cost of buying the actual asset, whether that’s an ETF, index fund, CFD*, or share, plus the fees associated with it.

*Note that CFDs are not available to US investors.

ETFs and CFDs are generally the cheapest option overall, as they have low fees and a low minimum investment. Index funds and mutual funds have low fees but may have a high minimum investment. Buying individual stocks is the most expensive option in absolute terms, because the share price of a single large company is often more than $100.

All options are likely to include a trading fee, which you pay each time you make a transaction. Some trading platforms offer zero-fee trading, with others it may be a few dollars. 

Then ETFs and index funds each have their own expense ratio. Expense ratios refer to an annual management fee, charged as a percentage of your total investment. Expense ratios are usually no more than 0.05%, so if you invest $1,000, you would pay $5 per year in management fees.

The different ways to invest in the AXX

As we mentioned above, there are numerous ways to put your money into the FTSE AIM All Share. ETFs and individual stocks are the simplest options for beginners, but there are alternatives. Here’s a brief overview of each option and who it’s best suited for.

FTSE AIM All Share ETFs

An ETF (exchange-traded fund) is an investment fund traded on a stock exchange, much like a stock. Exchange traded funds can hold different assets, such as individual stocks, bonds, or commodities, or serve as a proxy for a stock market index.

An FTSE AIM All Share ETF is one way of investing in the FTSE AIM All Share. It’s simply an investment fund that mirrors the performance of the FTSE AIM All Share. When you buy shares in the fund, the value of your investment will rise or fall with the FTSE AIM All Share itself. 

ETFs are ideal for new investors because they have a very low minimum investment. You can start with a few pounds and get exposure to some of the world’s largest companies. They’re also practical if you plan on trading the FTSE AIM All Share index, because you can buy or sell shares in the fund throughout the day.

FTSE AIM All Share index funds

An index or mutual fund is an investment fund that aims to track the performance of a stock market index, such as the FTSE AIM All Share. It’s very similar to an ETF, in that there are low management fees and you can buy shares through your online broker.

However, there are a couple of differences. FTSE AIM All Share index funds are only priced at the end of each trading day, so you can buy or sell shares in the fund once per day. There may also be a higher barrier to entry, through a much larger minimum investment when you invest in FTSE AIM All Share index funds.

That means an FTSE AIM All Share mutual fund is better suited for long term investors with a higher initial budget, where the infrequent trading and barriers to entry are far less of an issue.

FTSE AIM All Share CFDs (non-US users only)

CFDs (contracts for difference) are a way to speculate on FTSE AIM All Share price changes with more flexibility than if you use an ETF or index fund. A CFD is a ‘derivative’, which means it gets its value from the underlying asset – in this case the FTSE AIM All Share – but it’s separate from it.

As a result, CFDs can be leveraged, where you borrow money to multiply the size of the trade, or they can be used to go ‘short’, where you place a trade on the index to fall in value. You can also buy and sell them outside of regular trading hours.

All of this means FTSE AIM All Share CFDs offer the potential to outperform a fund that passively tracks the FTSE AIM All Share’s performance. Of course, you can also underperform it as well. Tools like leverage and shorting introduce a lot more risk, and are best left to experienced traders.

FTSE AIM All Share futures

Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell the AXX at an agreed price on a set date in the future. FTSE AIM All Share futures are a means to predict how you think the index is going to perform over a set time frame, such as the next three or six months.

Most futures contracts involve leverage, so you only put up a small part of the total trade value (the margin) when you buy one. That makes futures more risky, and they require a bit more financial expertise to understand as well.

Some traders use futures as a hedge against the performance of stocks they own. For instance, if you own stocks that are part of the FTSE AIM All Share then you might want to short the FTSE AIM All Share so that you still make some money if the price falls.

FTSE AIM All Share stocks

Another way to invest in the FTSE AIM All Share is to buy shares in the individual stocks that the index tracks. It isn’t practical to buy every share in the index, but you can invest directly into a few of the most heavily weighted stocks in the FTSE AIM All Share in order to get broad exposure to its performance.

The most heavily weighted stocks in the FTSE AIM All Share tend to be the largest companies by market capitalisation. If you invest directly in those largest stocks, you gain exposure to the index without taking on the risk of all the underlying companies.

One reason to do this is that these larger companies with the highest market cap dominate the index anyway, so that it can give you the impression of a diversified portfolio while actually being reliant on the performance of those particular stocks.

The flip side of investing directly like this is that you lose the diversification and stability that comes with buying into an entire index. It requires much more hands-on management to do your own stock picking, so it’s best suited to more experienced investors.

Where can I invest in the FTSE AIM All Share index?

According to our expert research, eToro is the best ETF broker to invest in FTSE AIM All Share index funds. 

Both FTSE AIM All Share ETFs and FTSE AIM All Share CFDs are available to invest in through eToro .

Here are three more places to buy the FTSE AIM All Share, ranked according to their cost, security, and features.

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No. assets 3600+

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This information is NOT relevant to EU residents who are to be serviced by EU subsidiaries of the Plus500 Group, such as Plus500CY Ltd, authorized by CySEC (Reg. 250/14). Different regulatory requirements apply in Europe, such as leverage limitations and bonus restrictions.

How to invest in FTSE AIM All Share index

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Should I invest in the FTSE AIM All Share index? 

Yes, FTSE AIM All Share investing is a great choice if you’re looking for a safer investment with more price stability compared to picking individual stocks. It’s also ideal if you don’t have the time to actively manage a portfolio of stocks, because you can simply invest in a bunch at the same time and then leave it alone.

The flip side is that you have less control over which companies you invest in. An index committee decides how the index works, and you can’t pick and choose the underlying companies you like the most. The FTSE AIM All Share is better suited to hands-off investors, compared to those who have the skills, experience, and desire to pick their own stocks.

What are the advantages of investing in the FTSE AIM All Share index?

An index provides instant stock market diversification, where you spread your risk across a large number of underlying companies, rather than one or two. Here are some more reasons why you might want to invest in the FTSE AIM All Share index:

• It offers an alternative way to invest in the UK economy. The AIM All Share contains a lot of small companies based in the UK. It’s an alternative to the larger and more popular indices, like the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250.
• There are more than 700 stocks on the AIM. With so many stocks from varied industries, you get the benefits of diversification. Any factor that has an impact on one area of the economy is unlikely to affect all stocks at the same time, so good performance in some sectors can balance out poor performance in others, maintaining a healthy balance.
• AIM stocks are riskier, but with more scope to grow. AIM companies are smaller and each aims to grow enough to attract more investment and migrate to a larger index. There’s much more potential for a company to double in value than there is on the FTSE 100 (although the reverse is also true: there’s more chance of a company failing).
• A way to invest in the growing UK companies without picking stocks. Investing in the AIM as a whole is a way to invest in small and growing companies without having to pick individual stocks. It can be difficult to research and identify winning stocks on the AIM if you don’t have vast amounts of time and expertise, so the index itself offers a shortcut to get a piece of the pie.

What are the disadvantages of investing in the FTSE AIM All Share index?

The main risk of investing in the FTSE AIM All Share is that all the underlying companies are related in some way, so a broader economic downturn that affected the entire country would likely affect many stocks in the index at the same time. Here are some more risks of FTSE AIM All Share investing.

• The FTSE AIM includes small companies that are less developed than ones that feature on major indices. The AIM has looser requirements in terms of financial disclosures and regulation compared to the main FTSE 250, there’s more chance of companies failing and greater volatility. It’s inherently riskier than investing in an index full of larger companies. 
• It’s more difficult to invest in the AIM All Share than other UK indices. There aren’t many ETFs that allow you to invest in the AIM. You might need to invest a larger amount than if you went for the FTSE 100 or FTSE 250.

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