Against an apparently unfriendly VCT fundraising environment, Core Capital has topped its £20 million fundraising target by tugging in an impressive £21.7 million for its fourth and fifth VCTs.

Against an apparently unfriendly VCT fundraising environment, Core Capital has topped its £20 million fundraising target by tugging in an impressive £21.7 million for its fourth and fifth VCTs.

Core partner Stephen Edwards was particularly pleased with the level of demand and believes it reflects investors taste for the ‘transparency’ of the company’s model as well as performance so far. Recent results showed the first Core VCT has delivered a total return of 3.7 per cent since opening to 98.02p per share, helping to entice this new swathe of investors.

Core, which charges no management fees to its investors, raised £44 million for VCTs I, II and III in the previous two years and in the past twelve months it has poured a portion of funds into five new investments.

Says Edwards: ‘The structure of Core VCTs IV & V, targeting the “mezzanine” layer of the investment structure, significantly reduces investor risk whilst maintaining the upside potential of backing successful, growing UK SME businesses. It also allows Core to actively target investments of up to £8 million, which is where we believe the market opportunity is strongest.’