Hargreave Hale AIM VCT 1 plc and Hargreave Hale AIM VCT 2 plc are raising GBP25 million through an offer for subscription that is open to new and existing shareholders, with an early bird offer that will remain available until 29 January 2016.


Launched in 2004, the Hargreave Hale AIM VCTs, which are co-managed by Giles Hargreave and Oliver Bedford, offer investors access to an established and diversified portfolio of small companies listed on AIM, with a competitive share buyback policy. The VCTs target a tax free income of 5 per cent and offer investors an upfront tax relief of 30 per cent, providing sufficient income tax is paid and the shares are held for at least five years.

Hargreave Hale AIM VCT 1 returned 5.9 per cent in the 12 months to 31 December 2015, while Hargreave Hale AIM VCT 2 returned 4.3 per cent. Both funds outperformed the FTSE 100 Total Return which fell 1.32 per cent over the year. 2015 was a better year for AIM, too, with the AIM All-Share Total Return gaining 6.6 per cent.

Oliver Bedford (pictured), co-manager of the Hargreave Hale AIM VCTs, says: “We don’t expect the recently revised VCT legislation to materially impact the delivery of the investment policies. We will monitor our deal flow carefully over the coming months but don’t foresee a significant change to the types of companies that we invest in. The complexity of the legislation is unfortunate and will require careful management; however, we still think there is a compelling case for investing in small British companies through tax efficient structures such as AIM VCTs.
“We sold out our previous offer for GBP20 million. It’s difficult to know how the market will respond this year; investors and their advisers are still familiarising themselves with the new landscape. That aside, domestic growth, increased consumer confidence and the search for tax efficient income and capital growth should support our fundraising efforts, particularly against a backdrop of further reductions in pension allowances.
“Recent reforms should have little impact on returns, which remain dependent on the ability of the manager, the outlook for the UK economy and sentiment within the wider market. Our wider fund management team has more than a thousand meetings with small companies each year, which helps us to identify and filter investment opportunities from an index which is, for the most part, poorly researched and inefficient.” 

The share offer opened on 1 December 2015 and will close on 30 November 2016 unless capacity is met sooner. The offer for AIM VCT 1 is GBP15 million and the offer for AIM VCT 2 is GBP10 million. The maximum investment which qualifies for income tax relief is GBP200,000. The minimum investment is GBP5,000.
