Investment in shares allows you to participate in the company development, at the same time gaining profit from its stock price growth and dividends.  

As investment in shares involves certain risks, they, under favourable circumstances, are expected to bring more profit compared to fixed interest revenue instruments.

ICFB advises its customers on all matters concerning investments in companies' shares and offers not only brokerage services on favourable terms, but also securities management as well as investment portfolio management on a free depository account. 

AA share is a security, which guarantees its owner's (shareholder's) rights to certain interest in the stock-company's profit in the form of dividends, thus making the stockholder a joint owner of a certain part of the company. 

Stockholders' rights and responsibilities arise from the "Stock Corporation Act" (Aktiengesetz). 

Furthermore, the right to vote sets the difference between common and preferred stock. Preferred shares to not give the right to vote, but this disadvantage is made up for by higher dividends as compared to common shares. For this reason common shares are more valuable in the situation of planned company takeovers. 

Stock companies' fixed capital is usually divided into a number of shares, which allows even minor investors to become shareholders. 

The division aforesaid is performed by issuing either fixed nominal value shares or piece-shares that have no nominal value and represent equal parts of the fixed capital. 

As shares are the company's equity capital, its insolvency involves total loss of invested capital risk. On the other hand, if the company is fast-growing and profit-making, the investment in its shares may prove highly profitable due to the stock price growth and/or high dividends. 

A proven way of raising stock appeal, employed by companies, is issuing so called Gratisaktien (free shares) as a result of nominal capital increase (economically, this procedure resembles the so called Stock split i.e. increasing the number of circulating shares by means of proportionately splitting each initial share).

New securities, issued by recently incorporated companies, offer good opportunities to investors, which has been proved in practice by such companies as Microsoft, SAP or Google. 

On the other hand, major disappointments are also possible. The evidence of this is presented by the recent numerous cases of "new market" companies' insolvency. 

In the long term periods shares have demonstrated higher profitability as compared to fixed income bond. Such increased profitability is called "risk bonus".

It appears reasonable to keep a certain number of shares in long-term investment portfolios with a view to diversification. The exact number of such shares depends on the investor's personal profile and their attitude toward risk-taking.