The stock market continues to reach new highs, but not all investors will enjoy the benefits. Small investors in some of the UK's smaller recruitment companies must sometimes wonder if it's worth the aggravation. Take Multi Group, for example. The company's shares took a battering last year following the disastrous acquisition of Global Medics (Recruiter, 9 August 2006). Then they were suspended on 10 November 2006 pending an announcement on an acquisition. So investors, most of whom would be making a loss, did not even have the option of selling out. Under the rules of the Alternative Investment Market, a company is delisted after its shares have been suspended for six months. Yet 10 May came and went without the London Stock Exchange taking any action. Multi's majority owner Bob Morton told Recruiter the AIM authorities were "relaxed" about the suspension going beyond the six-month limit. He has kept them informed of what's going on, even though he did not expect to make the announcement to the wider world until 11 May or even 14 May. Investors may wonder why it took so long. To be fair to Morton, and Multi, there is quite a lot going on at the company. Its fundraising was oversubscribed and has generated £4m of cash. The entire company was worth less than this until recently. Multi is about to announce a reverse acquisition. This is where it takes over another company, which is bigger but unlisted. This effectively gives the unlisted company a route onto AIM without the normal expense of flotation. Multi will also undergo a change of leadership.

All that said, those who think they can forecast the fortunes of the recruitment sector may still see some opportunities to profit. And the smaller players may offer some of the best opportunities. The success of the sector's bigger players is well documented. We've already noted in Recruiter what a great year 2006 was for Robert Walters. Michael Page shares are near an all-time high. Some take the view that this rate of increase for the share prices of such firms cannot be sustained, and that more dramatic percentage gains can be realised in other companies. Recovery plays such as IT recruiter Parity may be a case in point. The shares hit 92p recently, almost double their level of a year ago. But they were worth several times that a few years ago. In March last year, the company said it had to raise money due to debt problems. The shares plummeted. They may continue to recover some of the ground lost. Healthcare Locums is another one to watch. After trading in a relatively narrow range since flotation in 2005, the shares surged 34% in the last fortnight. Its acquisition strategy (it recently bought Public Recruitment's locum business — see www.recruiter.co.uk), is clearly earning the approval of the city.