As Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) turn 25, a bold new development from Intelligent Partnership has given advisers, paraplanners and others looking at this growing market another reason to get excited.
The arrival of 2020 has heralded a number of reasons for those in the VCT market to be cheerful. This year marks a quarter of a century since VCTs were first launched, and figures published at the end of 2019 confirmed the industry remains one of the most successful tax-advantaged schemes in existence – something that was mentioned in the Conservative manifesto before the party won the election in December (another reason to be cheerful, as the Tory victory considerably reduced uncertainty – both around VCTs and the UK economy more generally).
Back in 1995, when VCTs were first established, the internet was still in its infancy.
Today, with the internet almost ubiquitous in our homes and our pockets through ever-more sophisticated devices, news can travel faster than ever before and events can have a major impact on economies across the globe even before they have finished playing out. Not to mention the fact that a country’s economic, foreign and domestic policies can be changed in the time it takes to thumb out 280 characters and press ‘send’.
That’s why we at Intelligent Partnership are replacing our much-loved annual Industry Reports with online Quarterly Industry Updates that will provide readers with a more up-to-date look at each market that we cover. Instead of waiting a year to receive a snapshot of a particular sector, readers will now be able to get the latest news and updates every quarter, helping you to build up a picture of how the market is developing.
And the new format will create a much more user-friendly and interactive experience, helping you to get to the information you want more quickly and easily.
The great news for the VCT sector is that the first of these Quarterly Industry Updates is focusing on VCTs, delivering you all the latest news and insights into the market following December’s election and subsequent Queen’s Speech.
There’s certainly plenty to keep on top of: not only all the political machinations (and the next issue will no doubt cover the first Budget of the new decade), but also how the funds are performing and where the money is going.
A record year
As this issue points out, 2019 was a record year for VCT fundraising and there is no reason to think this will be the high watermark for the sector. Our analysis pinpoints the trends in the market as well as detailing the strong performance that is being seen, with data coming from our sister company, MICAP, as well as the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) and the government’s own official statistics.
You’ll find the report has even more reasons to be cheerful about the VCT market, which finds itself in good shape after 25 years. As Nick Britton, head of intermediary communications at the AIC puts it in the Update’s Opening Statement: “After an eventful adolescence, [VCTs} are enjoying a more stable period where they are settling down, getting decent haircuts and jobs.”
To find out more about the market, and take a look at our exciting new format: