The UK Stockmarket, operating on the London Stock Exchange, is generally regarded as the next most important one outside the United States.
The main index, according to currently available information, consists of over 1300 large companies from 60 countries.
The biggest ones are listed on the FTSE100 and FTSE250 Index for the top 100 and top 250 biggest companies on the exchange.
There are also around 757 companies listed on the AIM index, with 3900 having joined since it was created in 1995. The initials stand for Alternative Investment Market, and has less fussy reporting requirements than the main market.
You may not find the AIM listed companies on all broker websites you join for buying your share investments, but for the most part should with the FTSE100 and FTSE250 listed companies.
Some popular places to buy UK Shares include:
- eToro
- Halifax Sharedealing
- Hargreaves Lansdown
- AJ Bell
- Interactive Investor
- HSBC Invest Direct
- NatWest Invest
- Barclays General Investment Account
- Aviva (formerly Norwich Union)
- Legal & General
- NFU Mutual
Some of the above options offer the ability to buy into mutual funds rather than buy direct, which are basically a bunch of shares and investments managed by a professional at the company operating that particular one.