VCT fundraising season

[sinterklaas]

Wealth Club has done a graphic on the VCT fundraising season, to show how the various offers differed in size, speed etc.

https://www.wealthclub.co.uk/articles/i ... fographic/

Lots of over allotment going on. It shows how early the offers were closing too.

[moorfield]

Thanks marktristan - really interesting to see all that on one page, especially the tiny Northern blob! Blink and you really will miss it, as I did.

My next foray into VCTs may well be Octopus.

[Kidman]

Indeed, a very interesting breakdown.

It strikes me that every year we get the total fund-raising figures from various industry bodies and HMRC but I have never seen any statistics for the 'other side of the balance sheet'.

How much money is returned to shareholders in each financial year in terms of dividends, share buy-backs and tender offers?

[BusyBumbleBee]

How much money is returned to shareholders in each financial year in terms of dividends, share buy-backs and tender offers?

That would be a good thing to have as well as a list of VCTs that have merged into others at a substantial loss to the original purchasers. One VCT has sucked up 22 different VCTs (£400 million) and is now worth less than £100 million.

As always towards the end of a good run - and VCTs have had nine or ten good years - the new investor is sucked in. Or should I say, 'suckered in'. The good run and the significant change in rules is making me very wary of buying any at all at the moment.

So I can buy at 70 pence net of tax refund but I shall be able to buy lots in the market later for 60 pence and below.

[sinterklaas]

I have never seen any statistics for the 'other side of the balance sheet'.

How much money is returned to shareholders in each financial year in terms of dividends, share buy-backs and tender offers?

Great question, yes I wondered that too. I suspect the data is scarce or hard to come by. Or at least hard to collate?

[hiriskpaul]

How much money is returned to shareholders in each financial year in terms of dividends, share buy-backs and tender offers?

That would be a good thing to have as well as a list of VCTs that have merged into others at a substantial loss to the original purchasers. One VCT has sucked up 22 different VCTs (£400 million) and is now worth less than £100 million.

As always towards the end of a good run - and VCTs have had nine or ten good years - the new investor is sucked in. Or should I say, 'suckered in'. The good run and the significant change in rules is making me very wary of buying any at all at the moment.

So I can buy at 70 pence net of tax refund but I shall be able to buy lots in the market later for 60 pence and below.

I did not buy any VCTs in the last financial year. I share the same fears as you and want to see how the new rules pan out before going for any new subscriptions. The killing off of enhanced buy backs put me off with the loss of that 5-6 year tax relief input substantially raising the risk/reward profile as far as I am concerned.

I am very wary of making assumptions such as I will be safe with NVT as well. Of the VCTs i bought in 2006, the top performers by far until I rolled them over in an EBB were Foresight 3 and 4!

[Kidman]

We have a statement of intention for perhaps the first new offer of the 2017/2018 financial year:-

Octopus Aim VCT plc
Octopus AIM VCT 2 plc
Together "the Companies"

Intention to Launch a New Fundraising

The Companies are pleased to announce their intention to launch a new combined offer for subscription to raise up to £30 million with an overallotment facility of a further £10 million, in the near future. It is anticipated that an Offer document containing further details will be sent to shareholders and potential new investors in due course.

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exch ... 28832.html

[Vulgaris]

Interesting. And -- probably for the first time in history -- Trustnet is showing AIM focused VCTs as having 7 of the top 20 slots on a one year view -- Amati twins at 3rd and 4th; Octopus twins at 9th and 10th, Hargeaves Hale at 14th and 18th, with Unicorn at 19th.

Whether these happy times can last is, of course, quite another matter....

[UncleEbenezer]

Interesting. And -- probably for the first time in history -- Trustnet is showing AIM focused VCTs as having 7 of the top 20 slots on a one year view -- Amati twins at 3rd and 4th; Octopus twins at 9th and 10th, Hargeaves Hale at 14th and 18th, with Unicorn at 19th.

Whether these happy times can last is, of course, quite another matter....

AIM VCTs have had some good runs in recent times (a year or two ago, Unicorn was at the top with Octopus and HH also well-placed). Could be interesting to consider reasons, and which of them are likely to be transient vs persistent.

- Devaluation of the pound last year, and consequent rise in £ asset prices, helped raise AIM in general, and may have affected Amati the most.
- Allowing AIM shares in ISAs seems to have broadly coincided with the start of an upturn. Along with high ISA allowances.
- The general bull market may have inspired investors in general towards the higher risk/reward of AIM.
- IHT has long been a factor, but is it a growing market?
- Is AIM itself changing, quite apart from any external factors? For example, in response to some of the horror stories of con-men and inadequate regulation?