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As the latest update from the Office for National Statistics highlights the growing confidence among UK investors – especially in the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), FE Trustnet takes a look at the top performing smaller companies.

This week, the Office for National Statistics published an update highlighting the growing confidence among UK personal investors.

The update showed that 9.5 percent of FTSE 100 shares were held by individual investors in 2014, while also highlighting that 30.6 per cent of people were holding AIM listed companies. This goes some way to highlight that more and more people are feeling confident enough to invest in markets previously considered more niche.

The plethora of information on the internet, alongside the fact that there is now more choice when it comes to how you invest and with whom, has meant lots more investors have started to take an active interest in how and where they park their money.

AIM stocks have been eligible for ISAs for just over two years now, which has also helped boost the number of personal investors turning to this market for investment opportunities.

It is worth noting, however, that for those investors who piled in to AIM stocks following the relaxation of ISA rules two years ago, it has not been smooth sailing over the past year – and that while there are many well-known successes form the market like ASOS, there are also hundreds of companies who failed to succeed.

For investors who are looking to invest in smaller companies, a fund specialising in this sector could be one good way to add some diversity to your portfolio while also leaving the difficult process of in-depth company research to an expert.

Here are the top 10 performing smaller company funds over the past 5 years:

Source: FE Trustnet