AAII + BetterInvesting: Building Wealth With Small Cap Stocks

The American Association of Individual Investors held a live webinar event on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, presented by AAII’s John Bajkowski and BetterInvesting’s Doug Gerlach.

Small-cap stocks offer individual investors unique opportunities to find winning investments. These under-the-radar companies offer explosive growth potential—before Wall Street notices. This is your edge, provided you know what to look for and which stocks to avoid. This is where big gains begin.

In this session, John Bajkowski of AAII and Doug Gerlach of BetterInvesting share how their organizations approach small-cap investing to help individual investors uncover long-term opportunities.

Bajkowski highlights AAII’s Model Shadow Stock Portfolio, a value-based strategy focused on small- and micro-cap stocks. He explains its disciplined addition/deletion rules and how it’s managed through quarterly reviews. He also shows how to identify promising small-cap value stocks using AAII’s screening tools and A–F Grades.

Gerlach introduces the SmallCap Informer, BetterInvesting’s newsletter focused on identifying high-potential small-cap stocks using its proven Q-GARP (quality growth at a reasonable price) strategy. He explains how the approach, based on BI’s Stock Selection Guide (SSG), targets strong fundamentals, reasonable valuations and long-term growth. He also highlights how the strategy has contributed to the newsletter’s long-term track record, which has outpaced the S&P SmallCap 600 index.

This is the fourth installment of our monthly webinar series, held on the fourth Tuesday of each month.

Watch this webinar and learn:

How to apply AAII’s disciplined, value-based strategy from the Model Shadow Stock Portfolio to identify overlooked micro-cap opportunities.
How to use AAII’s screening tools to evaluate and uncover high-potential small-cap value stocks.
How BI’s SmallCap Informer identifies growth-focused small-cap stocks with strong fundamentals and long-term potential.
How to use BetterInvesting’s research-driven approach to build and manage a small-cap portfolio with confidence.

AAII Resources

Asset Allocation Models (https://www.aaii.com/asset-allocation)
AAII Stock Screens (https://www.aaii.com/stockideas/allst...)
AAII Stock Screen Performance (https://www.aaii.com/stockideas/perfo...)
O'Shaughnessy Small-Cap Growth & Value Screen (https://www.aaii.com/stocks/screens/58)
Shadow Stock Investing: Winning With a Small-Cap/Value Investment Approach (https://www.aaii.com/model-portfolios...)
AAII Model Shadow Stock Portfolio (https://www.aaii.com/model-portfolios)
“Gaining Small-Cap Exposure Via Mutual Funds and ETFs” by Cynthia McLaughlin (https://www.aaii.com/journal/article/...)
Small ETFs That Are Outperforming Screen (https://www.aaii.com/screens/etf/2050)
Small-Caps Performing Well Compared to Peers Screen (https://www.aaii.com/screens/etf/2051)
What Are Small-Cap Stocks? (https://www.aaii.com/education/articl...)


BetterInvesting Resources

Small-Cap Informer (https://www.betterinvesting.org/store...)
Stock Selection Guide (SSGPlus) (https://www.betterinvesting.org/store...)

Special Offers

AAII’s Special Offer on AAII Plus (https://invest.aaii.com/betterinvesting)
BetterInvesting’s Small-Cap Informer Special Offer (http://www.smallcapinformer.com/get/AAII)

Register for upcoming webinars: https://www.aaii.com/webinars

Want more financial education? Learn more about AAII at https://www.aaii.com

ABOUT AAII
The American Association of Individual Investors is an independent, nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of assisting individuals in becoming effective managers of their own assets through programs of education, information and research.

AAII + BetterInvesting: Building Wealth With Small-Cap Stocks | AAII