If you'd invested in: Oxford Instruments and Allied Minds

Investors are keen on maker of research tools Oxford Instruments, but have shunned intellectual property company Allied Minds.

Ben Judge
By Ben Judge
published

If only...

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Oxford Instruments (LSE: OXIG) supplies tools for researchers and industry, such as spectrometers and atomic force microscopes. Latest half-year results report a "stable" performance, with revenue up 4.1% to £171.5m, but profit down by 5% to £19m. The sale of its industrial analysis unit to Hitachi netted £80m and will allow it to focus on its more profitable nanotechnology sector. Investors responded positively the share price is up by more than 67% in the last year

Be glad you didn't

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Allied Minds (LSE: ALM) is an intellectual property company backed by Neil Woodford that invests in start-up businesses in the US life sciences and technology sectors. It's based in Boston, US, and listed in London in 2014. In April, a write-down of its investments in seven businesses, totalling $146m, sent the firm's shares tumbling. The price is down by 58% in the last year, and is 20% down from its initial public offering price.

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Oxford Instruments
Ben Judge
Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.

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