Railtrack's collapse and Marconi's disappearance from the FTSE-

100 threatens the small investor bandwagon which began to roll in the Eighties.

Things have come full circle since those early privatisations which suggested shares were a way of making money available to all.

The dot.com boom, peaking in March 2000, was the last manifestation of this mind set. Since then, it has been downhill all the way.

This subsequent collapse in wealth is astounding. BT has tapped shareholders for more cash as its share price of about 340p touches the levels of a decade ago, down from a 52-week high of 741p.

Atlantic Telecom, another multi-billion pound company with shares worth 482p at their peak in the summer of 2000, sank almost unnoticed to a record low. Its worthless shares are now suspended.

Pension funds faced a £300 million hit from Railtrack and the game may now be too complex for amateurs. Bricks and mortar often look a better bet to many investors.

However, many people are still generating spare cash, like middle-aged couples in good jobs with grown-up children, high-earning young professionals, older couples who have sold a large family house to trade down and redundancy cases who opt out for the simple life.

All these people need somewhere to put spare cash beyond building society accounts barely keeping up with inflation. But the investment climate has changed faster than many realise.

David Hanratty, of Nelson Money Managers, said: "Clients show us their portfolio, with a degree of risk way off the Richter scale. Then they tell us they are cautious investors."

Nelson, currently helping workers losing jobs at Marconi, has some 15,000 clients around the country with a minimum £20,000 to invest.

Zurich Financial Services launches a service next January for clients with more than £150,000 to invest.

It plans to give retail investors access to investment advice and institutional fund managers who will manage personal portfolios of stocks, shares and pension funds. A two per cent annual management fee means it will cost £3,000 each year to look after the minimum £150,000.

The NatWest Stockbrokers'

Brokerline with Advice is an optional extra to an execution-only telephone and internet dealing service.

It costs £100 a year plus VAT and, until December 31, new clients get an initial portfolio review free of charge.

Richard Hunter, head of dealing Services at NatWest Stockbrokers, says: "The dot.com bubble was an unpleasant shock. Clients like to talk through ideas with a broker who knows their objectives and this part of our service is increasingly popular."

Martin Smith, of Close Wealth Management, said: "An awful lot of people saw shares as a one-way street, and their fingers were badly burned. Some people now keep a small fund as a play thing and hand the rest to professionals."

The average Close client has £150,000 under management but the minimum is £25,000. Chase offers five model portfolios, from 100 per cent in fixed income for the super-cautious to 100 per cent equities for the high-risk player. It makes a choice on the basis of client attitude to risk and return.

Mr Smith said investors should take the long-term view.

"If you had held a fund with us since 1983 entirely in equities, the worst performance in any year is - 21 per cent, last year. But the poorest performance in any two years is - 6 per cent.

"In a low-inflation environment, annual returns of 20 per cent are impossible. With inflation at 2.3 per cent, our target is a real return of eight per cent."