The company says it placed £58 million into companies with fewer than 50 employees, and only £7 million into larger concerns.

Close hopes the news will reassure investors worried that the new rules might make VCTs a riskier investment by reducing the pool of potential investee companies. VCTs must invest 70 per cent of their funds in qualifying companies within three years of launch.

Patrick Reeve, managing director of Close Ventures, says: ‘Our research clearly demonstrates that our investment strategy would have allowed us to invest the £20 million we raised last year [for Close Enterprise VCT] under the new employee rules.

‘This is good news for investors, since we are content that we would be able to comfortably invest any new VCT under these rules as we have done with the previous rules.’

Close Ventures manages seven VCTs with total funds raised of over £250 million. The first of these was launched in 1996.