Albion VCTs – hero 2021

Albion VCTs

Offer details View offer details & apply
Target dividend: 5% of NAV
Wealth Club initial saving:
Net initial charge: 3%
Annual rebate: 0.10%
Funds raised / sought: £38.4m / £60m
Minimum investment: £6,000
Next deadline: 16 Dec 2025 (9am) for first allotment
Offer details View offer details & apply
Target dividend: 5% of NAV
Wealth Club initial saving:
Net initial charge: 3%
Annual rebate: 0.10%
Funds raised / sought: £38.4m / £60m
Minimum investment: £6,000
Next deadline: 16 Dec 2025 (9am) for first allotment

Early bird capacity filled

As at 5pm on Monday 3 November the VCT offer had received £10.3 million in applications. The early bird saving is capped to the first £10 million raised.

The three Albion VCTs are overseen by Albion Capital, a well-resourced investment manager which has been investing in technology and scale-up companies for over 20 years led by experienced managing partner Will Fraser-Allen.

Each of the VCTs, Albion Enterprise VCT (AAEV), Albion Technology & General VCT (AATG), and Albion Crown VCT (CRWN), targets an annual dividend of 5% of NAV – dividends are variable and not guaranteed.

Combined, the Albion VCTs have net assets of over £715 million (June 2025) and a portfolio of around 70 companies – predominantly in the fintech, software and healthcare sectors. There is also a small legacy portfolio of income-generating renewable energy investments.

Over the five years to 30 September 2025, the three Albion VCTs have produced NAV total returns (including dividends reinvested) ranging from 30.2% to 47.7%. Past performance is not a guide to the future.

  • Seeking to raise up to £60 million in aggregate, with a £30 million overallotment facility
  • Target dividend of 5% of NAV per annum – variable and not guaranteed
  • Available in the 2025/26 tax year
  • Minimum investment £6,000 (£2,000 per VCT)
  • Deadline for first allotment: 16 December 2025 (9am)

Funds raised

VCT Target raise Amount raised*
Albion Enterprise VCT £20,000,000 £15,309,000
Albion T&G VCT £20,000,000 £11,943,000
Albion Crown VCT £20,000,000 £11,179,000
Total £60,000,000 £38,431,000

* Source: Albion Capital, as at Fri 5 Dec (15:00).

Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not a personal recommendation to invest. If you’re unsure, please seek advice. Investments are for the long term. They are high risk and illiquid and can fall as well as rise in value: you could lose all the money you invest.

The manager

The Albion VCTs are managed by Albion Capital Group LLP (“Albion”), which manages £1 billion of assets, of which over £700 million is in VCTs.

The 20-strong investment team is led by managing partner Will Fraser-Allen, an experienced technology investor, who joined Albion in 2001.

The team contains a mix of specialist healthcare, financial technology and software investors as well as a dedicated team which helps portfolio companies with operational issues such as hiring, governance and corporate finance. An example is Partner Jane Reddin, an experienced talent director previously of EQT and Balderton Capital. Jane works with founders to build senior teams and assist with leadership development and organisational scaling.

Managing partner Will Fraser-Allen is keen to encourage equity participation within the business to help retain and attract talent. Out of 50 employees, 18 are now partners, including 13 from the investment team.

Investment strategy

Since 2015, the Albion VCTs have focused purely on growth opportunities with a bias towards healthcare technology – particularly the digitalisation of healthcare – financial technology, digital risk, and AI & Data stack sectors. The investment team looks for B2B businesses with a unique offering, operating in fast-growing markets, specifically companies the manager believes have reached an inflection point and require additional funding to accelerate growth.

The VCTs will invest across a range of maturity stages: early stage, growth, and scale up, depending on turnover. It is expected most companies will have turnover greater than £1 million, with a small proportion of earlier-stage ventures. Albion believes diversification across sectors, size, and maturity of the businesses can help build ‘all-weather portfolios’.

Portfolio overview

The three Albion VCTs have net assets of £716.2 million (June 2025): mostly technology investments, with a smaller portion in legacy asset-backed investments and cash.

The combined portfolio includes around 70 unquoted companies, most of which have some degree of co-investment across the VCTs. The sector breakdown of the combined portfolio is shown below; however, percentages will vary between the individual trusts.

The combined Albion VCT portfolio is concentrated, with the top ten holdings accounting for 45% of NAV. The VCTs’ largest holding, Quantexa, is valued at £126.3 million or around 17.6% of total NAV (June 2025).

Strong performance from the VCTs’ largest holdings has resulted in 79% of the portfolio being invested in businesses generating revenues in excess of £5 million.

Asset breakdown (% of NAV)

  Asset-based companies Growth companies Cash and deposits
AAEV 7% 69% 24%
AATG 9% 70% 21%
CRWN - Ordinary shares 8% 64% 28%
CRWN - C shares 24% 67% 9%

Source: Albion Capital, 30 June 2025.

Combined portfolio sector breakdown (%)

Source: Albion Capital, 30 June 2025.

Combined portfolio breakdown by revenue (%)

Source: Albion Capital, 30 June 2025.

Exit track record

In the last five years to October 2025, the VCT(s) achieved 37 full and partial exits, generating proceeds of £267.6 million against a cost of £154.0 million. The most notable exit was the sale of Egress in July 2024 (detailed below), realising proceeds of £64.2m million, a 7.6x return.

Example of previous failure

Brytlyt

As is to be expected, not all investments work out. One example is Brytlyt.

Brytlyt developed software to enable AI to run more efficiently on GPU hardware. Albion invested a total of £3.3 million, alongside investment from Amadeus Capital and Finch Capital, with the first investment by Albion in 2021. Sadly, the market did not take off as quickly as hoped, and revenue grew modestly from £0.5 million to £1 million despite a number of partnerships, including with Accenture, selling primarily into the telcoms sector.

The growth rate was insufficient to attract further funding and thus the business was marketed for sale and acquired by Open Signal in June 2024. The VCTs received £60k of proceeds from the sale.

Performance and dividends

Over five years to September 2025, the Albion VCTs have produced NAV total returns (including dividends reinvested) ranging from 30.2% to 47.7% of starting NAV. Past performance is not a guide to the future. Note, we show VCT returns over a five-year period as a minimum, where possible. Where a VCT has followed the same investment strategy for longer, we also show returns over 10 years.

The three VCTs aim to pay half-yearly dividends (each calculated as 2.5% of the most recently announced NAV) twice a year, each in a different month. So, an investment in all three VCTs could potentially generate a bi-monthly income stream throughout the year – dividends are variable and not guaranteed.

Over the five years to June 2025, the three Albion VCTs have paid total dividends per share of between 34.9% and 37.9% of starting NAV.

NAV and cumulative dividends per share over five years (p)

Source: Morningstar. Past performance is no guide to the future. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed. The bar chart shows net asset value and cumulative dividends per share for the period 31/12/2019 – 30/09/2025.

Dividend payments in the calendar year

Source: Morningstar. Past performance is no guide to the future. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed. The bar chart shows dividends per share paid in each calendar year.

Dividend yield history (% of starting NAV)

  AAEV AATG CRWN
2020 4.8% 13.3% 11.0%
2021 4.9% 5.4% 10.1%
2022 4.9% 4.9% 5.0%
2023 5.2% 5.1% 5.1%
2024 15.9% 5.1% 5.1%
YTD 2.8% 2.5% 2.5%

Source: Morningstar. Dividend yields are based on the dividends paid over the period divided by the starting NAV of the VCT in each period. Past performance is no guide to the future.

Dividend Reinvestment Scheme (DRIS)

The VCTs operate a dividend reinvestment scheme that allows shareholders to reinvest future cash dividend payments in new shares if desired. As these are new shares they should be eligible for tax relief (you will need to claim this on your tax return or directly with HMRC) and the shares will count towards the VCT annual subscription limit. 

Share buy-back policy

The boards intend to buy back shares at up to a 5% discount to the prevailing net asset value. This is not guaranteed – please see the offer documents for details. 

Discount history

VCT shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. Similar to investment trusts, the share price can fluctuate and can be different from the VCT’s net asset value (NAV), i.e. the value of the VCT’s underlying investments. The difference between the share price of a VCT, and its net asset value per share, is called a discount.

Based on data from Morningstar, the average discount to NAV as at 30 September 2025 was -5.2%. Over the previous five years the average discount to NAV was -5.3%.

The discount history is based on the closing share price of the VCT at the end of each month, divided by the latest net asset value at the time. Past performance is not a guide to the future. Investors looking to sell their VCT shares may get a better price using the VCTs’ share buyback facilities, although this is not guaranteed.

Risks – important

This, like all investments available through Wealth Club, is only for experienced investors happy to make their own investment decisions without advice. 

VCTs are high-risk so should only form part of a balanced portfolio and you should not invest money you cannot afford to lose. They also tend to be illiquid and hard to sell and value. Before you invest, please carefully read the Risks and Commitments and the offer documents to ensure you fully understand the risks. 

To retain the tax benefits, VCTs should be held for at least five years. If you sell VCT shares and reinvest in new shares of the same VCT (including any mergers) within six months, tax relief can be restricted. Tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances.

Charges and savings

A summary of the main charges and savings is shown below. The net initial charge shown includes the Wealth Club saving and any early bird discount. The investment may have additional charges and expenses: please see the provider documents including the Key Information Document for more details, offer price and share allotment calculation methodology.

Please note, capacity – for the offer or any early bird savings – can be reached early, and we may not be notified of this by the VCT in real time.

Full initial charge

3%

Early bird discount

Wealth Club initial saving

Existing investor discount

Net initial charge through Wealth Club (new investors)

3%

Net initial charge through Wealth Club (existing investors)

3%

Annual charge

2.0%

Annual administration charge

See offer documents

Performance fee

15%

Annual rebate (for three years)

0.10%
More detail on the charges

The full initial charge shown in the table above is before any savings and discounts; the net initial charge is after available savings and discounts. When you invest through us, Wealth Club will receive commission each year (up to 0.4%). Commission is paid by the product provider so there is no additional charge to you.

The annual management charge paid to the managers is 2.0%. There is a performance fee of between 15% above a hurdle rate, please see the providers documents for details.

Annual rebate when you invest through Wealth Club

The Albion VCTs include an annual rebate for Wealth Club investors, payable for the first three years. 

This is a rebate of our renewal commission and should be equivalent to a percentage (shown in the table above) of your subscription. Terms and conditions apply.

Deadlines 

  • Deadline for first allotment: 16 December 2025 (9am)
  • Deadline for second allotment: 24 March 2026 (9am)
  • Deadline for final allotment in 2025/26: 1 April 2026 (2pm)

Our view

The Albion VCTs have been investing in fast-growing UK businesses since 2015, with a particular emphasis on the fintech, software and healthcare sectors (66% of net assets), and have built a reputation for backing some of the UK’s brightest startups.

The VCTs have experienced strong recent performance. In particular the VCTs’ largest holding, Quantexa, has enjoyed several large markups following third-party funding, including from world-class investors like the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Warburg Pincus and a range of top-tier banks. However, investors should note the position now accounts for 17.6% of the total NAV, which increases concentration and could make the VCTs higher risk.

The recent decision to merge the six Albion VCTs should result in significant savings for investors and has simplified the Albion offer substantially.

In our view, the ability to access a growing portfolio of technology and healthcare businesses – combined with a target of paying dividends every other month - makes this an offer worth considering. Investors should form their own view.

This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 23 October 2025

Wealth Club aims to make it easier for experienced investors to find information on – and apply for – investments. You should base your investment decision on the offer documents and ensure you have read and fully understand them before investing. The information on this webpage is a marketing communication. It is not advice or a personal or research recommendation to buy any of the investments mentioned, nor does it include any opinion as to the present or future value or price of these investments. It does not satisfy legal requirements promoting investment research independence and is thus not subject to prohibitions on dealing ahead of its dissemination.

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