More than half of all the new issue in the VCT market has already been taken up with eight weeks to go before the end of the tax year, managing director Hollands said, and last minute investors risk being left out in the cold.
Maven VCT 6 closed its fund raising offer on Tuesday having achieved its target early following the closure of Unicorn AIM VCT which hit its fundraising goal just a week after launching. ProVen Growth and Income VCT and the small Calculus VCT D Share offer have also closed to investors.
A number of VCTs still open are quickly raising cash too, Hollands said, with the popular Albion VCT 82% full as of Wednesday and the Northern VCT fast-approaching its own £12.6m target the demand from last-minute investors and existing shareholders who are likely to “snap up the lot”.
Hollands said: “All this is making for a VCT market that could shut-up doors well ahead of the tax year end – yet typically the industry does half of most of its full-year fund raising in March and the first week of April when investors are faced with the looming tax year-end deadline.
“Those who leave their VCT instruments until the eleventh hour this tax year may find much less around to choose from.”
The problem, as Hollands points out, is the “growing mismatch” between high demand for VCT and EIS instruments against the limited supply available.
