The Board of Amati AIM VCT plc, a £105 million venture capital trust (VCT), has announced the appointment of Maven Capital Partners as its new investment manager with effect from 1 May 2025. This decision follows the strategic review announced in March 2024, aimed at addressing the ongoing investment challenges in the AIM market and their impact on the performance of Amati VCT, and reflects the Board’s commitment to delivering improved long-term returns for shareholders.
Subject to shareholder approval, Maven will lead an “AIM Plus” strategy which will introduce greater diversification by broadening the investment focus to enable a greater degree of investment in private companies, while continuing selective exposure to AIM opportunities. This approach is designed to stabilise the portfolio and improve shareholder returns.
Amati VCT shareholders will benefit from Maven’s extensive experience of managing four established generalist VCTs that have raised over £340 million over the last 15 years and invested in more than 120 private companies in that period. Maven’s deep sector expertise spans a wide range of growth industries such as software, cybersecurity, healthcare, and fintech, and the VCTs have delivered 14 profitable realisations since January 2021 with exit multiple returns of up to 8.2x.
Maven also has a proven track record of repositioning another AIM focused VCT in order to improve performance, implementing a similar change of investment focus for the former Bluehone AiM VCT2 (now Maven Income and Growth VCT 5) which, since Maven’s appointment as manager in 2011, has achieved an increase of around 50% in NAV Total Return, with absolute NAV increasing threefold.
Fiona Wollocombe, Amati AIM VCT Chair, said: “Given the ongoing challenges in the AIM market, the Board made the strategic decision to broaden the VCT’s investment strategy and is seeking shareholder approval to change the Company’s investment objectives and policy to adopt an “AIM Plus” strategy. This expansion is intended to allow for an increased exposure to dynamic private companies, supported by a core portfolio of AIM holdings, which we believe is key to enhancing performance and delivering improved returns for our shareholders.
Maven’s dual expertise in private company and AIM listed investments, as well as its demonstrable track record of turning around another AIM VCT, makes it uniquely positioned to drive this strategy forward. We look forward to working with Maven to unlock the Amati VCT’s full potential and create greater shareholder value.”
Bill Nixon, Managing Partner at Maven Capital Partners, said: “We appreciate the trust that has been placed in Maven to stabilise and reposition the Amati VCT. We are committed to ensuring a seamless transition and are confident that, with access to a VCT manager supported by one of the largest investment teams and regional office networks in the sector, Amati VCT shareholders will benefit from Maven’s strong pipeline of VCT-qualifying opportunities across the UK.
The difficulties that have prevailed in the AIM market over the past two years are structural and long term. We believe that implementing a new, expanded investment strategy, focused on transitioning the Amati VCT’s asset base to a more balanced hybrid portfolio of AIM and private company investments, will ultimately drive value and generate positive shareholder returns.”
