Investors from AIM are set to pocket a record £1bn this year for the first time ever.
Dividends paid by companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) are set to reach £1.16bn by the end of this year.
Investors in AIM-listed companies have seen dividends increase by an annual average of 18.6% over the last six years - four times faster than the 4.9% annual growth seen on the Main Market.
This is according to the first annual AIM Dividend Monitor from Link Asset Services.
The forecast says that AIM dividends will grow by 19.6% in 2018, taking total payouts to £1.16bn.
This is almost triple the £417m that was paid out in 2012.
And the report expects this dividend growth to continue - hitting £1.3bn in 2019.
The growth was put down to both the increasing maturity of AIM companies and the larger size of new listings, who pay out dividends at an earlier stage.
Unlike the Main Market however, where four fifths of companies pay out a dividend, only a third of AIM-listed companies issue payouts.
Over the years, some of the biggest AIM dividends have been from companies like Highland Gold Mining, Arbuthnot Banking Group and James Halstead.
Justin Cooper, chief executive of Link Market Services said: "We rightly associate AIM with young companies, hungry for capital to grow.
“The value of capital being return to investors via dividends is still much smaller than the amount being raised for investment, but the speed at which dividends are growing shows that more companies are coming of age and reaching that important milestone where they generate more cash than they absorb.
“It’s frankly astonishing to see such consistent a dramatic growth year in, year out."
To track news & updates about AIM-listed stocks, with RNS push notification & much more - download the free Vox Markets app here!
Over 3,800 companies have joined AIM since it launched 23 years ago, raising a total of £110bn.
Approximately £45bn of this was raised at floatation, the rest at a later date to fund expansion.
At the moment, there are around 800 companies on AIM with a total market value of £103bn.
Over the years, some of the biggest payouts have been from companies like Highland Gold Mining, Arbuthnot Banking Group and James Halstead.
Richard Power, head of small companies at Octopus Investments, said: "People often underestimate the dividend-paying capacity of AIM companies. Early-stage fledgling stocks are hungry for new capital, and so do not tend to pay dividends, but there are hundreds more which are maturing steadily and beginning to generate cash, even after their investment needs are satisfied.
"Not only are their profits growing, which is supporting dividend growth, but they are increasing the proportion of profits that they distribute too.
"That means dividend growth can easily outstrip the larger stocks on the main market, many of which have struggled to grow payouts at all in recent years."
To see today's AIM risers & fallers please click here
