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Hargreave Hale AIM VCT is an established VCT that launched in 2004. It is managed by Canaccord Genuity Fund Management, which acquired experienced UK smaller company fund manager Hargreave Hale in 2017.
The VCT has net assets of £130.8 million (June 2025), of which around 55% is invested in 60 VCT-qualifying companies. These are mostly quoted on AIM (54), although the manager will also invest in unquoted companies on an opportunistic basis. The remainder is spread across the Marlborough Special Situations and UK Micro-Cap Funds, a gold miners ETF, fixed income securities, UK main market equities, and cash.
Over five years to June 2025 the VCT has paid cumulative dividends equivalent to 37.6% of starting net asset value of the VCT. However, AIM has had a very tough couple of years, declining 7% in the last three years, compared to -27.2% for the VCT. Over the 10 years to 30 June 2025, the VCT delivered a NAV total return (including dividends) of -5.5%. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
- Seeking to raise up to £20 million
- Targets annual dividends of 5% of NAV – variable not guaranteed
- Minimum investment £5,000
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
Canaccord Genuity Asset Management, formerly Hargreave Hale, specialises in UK smaller company investments. The team, comprising 15 investment professionals, manages £2.2 billion (June 2025) across the VCT and many of the highly regarded Marlborough unit trusts, including the £485 million Special Situations Fund (July 2025).
The firm is part of Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, a global investment group with c.CA$120 billion under management or administration (March 2025).
The VCT team is headed up by Oliver Bedford, lead manager since July 2019. He joined as an analyst in 2004 and worked alongside previous lead manager Giles Hargreave until December 2020, when Giles stepped down. Oliver is supported by co-manager Lucy Bloomfield, portfolio manager Anna Salim, investment analyst Archie Stirling, and a legal counsel.
Investment strategy
The VCT expects to invest primarily in AIM-quoted companies, and to a lesser degree in private companies.
The VCT also invests a sizeable portion of assets in non-qualifying UK and international equities, fixed income securities and cash. The team will target non-qualifying investments on an opportunistic basis.
With any investment, the team looks for the same core qualities:
- A strong and experienced management team
- Intellectual property
- High cash generation, strong balance sheets, and revenue visibility
- Competitive market positions with defined customer profiles
The investment team follows a stock-specific, rather than sector-specific, investment approach and is more likely to provide growth and development capital to relatively established businesses than start-ups.
A proportion of funds raised will be invested into the Marlborough Special Situations Fund and Marlborough Micro-Cap Growth Fund to maintain exposure to small companies pending investment into qualifying companies.
Portfolio overview
In the six months to March 2025, the VCT invested £3.6 million into five qualifying companies. That included three new investments, and two follow-on investments.
The VCT has net assets of £130.8 million (June 2025). The top 10 qualifying investments currently represent 26% of the VCT’s net asset value.
The VCT has a very diversified portfolio. Around 54% of net assets is invested in qualifying investments, predominantly quoted on AIM but with some unquoted investments. Non-qualifying investments account for a greater proportion of the portfolio than found in many peers: 17.3% is across non-qualifying equity investments and two Marlborough Funds and 13.4% is invested in blue-chip fixed income investments. There is also a 0.6% allocation to a gold mining ETF.
The remaining 14.9% of net assets is in cash.
Asset allocation (%)
Source: Hargreave Hale, June 2025.
Qualifying sector breakdown (%)
Source: Hargreave Hale, June 2025.
Examples of portfolio companies
Largest quoted holding
Cohort Plc
Cohort is a collection of seven businesses operating in the defence and security markets.
The group was formed in 2006 and was admitted to AIM in the same year. Its strategy focuses on acquiring niche technical businesses in the defence sector that could benefit from being part of a wider group. Currently, the Group’s capabilities cover everything from sonar and surveillance technology to cybersecurity and digital forensics.
In January 2025, Cohort completed its largest acquisition to date: EM Solutions, a satellite communications business based in Australia with an enterprise value of c.£75 million.
In the twelve months to April 2025, the Group reported record performance with revenues up 33% to £270 million. Over the same period, adjusted operating profit rose 30% to £21.1 million. The company finished the year with a record order book of £616 million, boosted by opportunities from the UK’s Strategic Defence Review and increased demand for defence products amid growing global tensions.
The VCT first invested in the company in July 2015, with its investment currently valued at £4.6 million on a cost of £559,000. It accounts for 4.0% of NAV (March 2025).
Largest unquoted holding
My 1st Years
My 1st Years was founded in 2010 by schoolmates Daniel Price and Jonny Sitton after struggling to find a unique and personal gift for a friend’s newborn.
They launched My 1st Years to sell high-quality personalised gifts for babies and young children online, offering everything from embroidered dressing gowns to toys.
The company raised £5.6 million from Hargreave Hale AIM VCT and Beringea, manager of the Proven VCTs, in January 2017. However, having successfully weathered the pandemic, the firm was hit by disaster in 2021 when its warehouse caught fire – destroying £3 million of stock, £1 million of equipment and halting sales for 18 weeks. The firm bounced back strongly, with sales of £18.8 million in 2022, up 40% year-on-year, reaching £23 million in 2024.
The Hargreave Hale AIM VCT’s stake is now valued at £3.1 million, on a £2.5 million cost, and accounts for 2.5% of net assets (March 2025). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Recent investment, quoted
RC Fornax
RC Fornax was founded by Paul Reeves in 2020 after a 12 year career in the Royal Air Force. He had also spent time at defence contractors BAE Systems, Raytheon, and Thales and felt that their bureaucratic structures created significant efficiency for customers, resulting in budget overruns and project delays.
To avoid this RC Fornax builds bespoke project teams for a community of consultants. Rather than acting as a simple outsourced recruiter RC Fornax works with customers to define and take responsibility for a specific Statement of Work – with clear deliverables and focus on engineering outcomes.
The company has initially focused on systems, software and hardware engineering projects, reporting £6.5 million of revenues in 2024, with EBITDA of £1 million. More recently however, the company has reported trouble converting leads into new business and now expects 2025 full year revenues to be “not less than £4 million”.
The VCT invested £562,000 in February 2025 as part of the company’s IPO – which raised a total of £3.7 million. As of March 2025 the holding was valued at £609,000.
Example of previous failure
Bidstack
As is to be expected, not all investments work out. Bidstack is an example.
Bidstack was an advertising company which helped video game publishers and developers monetise their games through native in-game adverts and branding deals.
However, following a protracted period of underperformance, the company entered administration in March 2024 after its fundraising efforts failed. The shares were cancelled from trading on AIM and the VCT’s holding was fully written down, resulting in a loss of £2.7 million.
Exit track record
Most of the companies in which AIM VCTs invest are quoted on AIM, so shares can be bought and sold more easily than is the case with private (unquoted) companies. Realisations – particularly partial ones – are common with AIM VCTs, for instance, to rebalance the portfolio. We do not believe they are indicative of a manager’s performance and for this reason we don’t focus on them.
Performance and dividends
The AIM market fell 7% in the three years to June 2025 – past performance is not a guide to future performance.
The Hargreave Hale AIM VCT was also affected, falling 27.2% over the same period (NAV total return including dividends). Over five years the VCT has produced a NAV total return (including dividends) of -16.6%. This includes cumulative dividends equivalent to 37.6% of starting net asset value of the VCT.
Over ten years, the VCT has delivered a NAV total return of -5.5%.
Past performance is not a guide to the future, dividends are variable and not guaranteed. 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.
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 - 30/06/2025.
Dividends paid per calendar year
Source: Morningstar. Past performance is not a guide to the future. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed. Dividends paid per calendar year to 30/06/2025.
Dividend yield history (% of starting NAV)
| Calendar year | Dividend as % of NAV |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 4.5% |
| 2021 | 7.9% |
| 2022 | 4.4% |
| 2023 | 8.3% |
| 2024 | 8.6% |
| YTD | 10.0% |
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)
There is 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 buybacks
The board intends 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 discount to NAV as at 30 June 2025 was -6.4%. Over the previous five years the average discount to NAV was -5.7%.
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.
The quantity and quality of investment opportunities available to AIM VCTs is dependent on sufficient VCT-qualifying fundraising activity on the AIM market, which will fluctuate.
AIM shares can be very volatile and could suffer extreme volatility if the market falls sharply. The difference between the buying and selling price of AIM-quoted companies is often wider than those listed on the main market.
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 | 3.50% |
| Early bird discount | – |
| Wealth Club initial saving | 1% |
| Existing investor discount | – |
| Net initial charge through Wealth Club (new investors) | 2.50% |
| Net initial charge through Wealth Club (existing investors) | 2.50% |
| Annual management charge | 2% |
| Annual administration charge | 0.30% |
| Performance fee | 20% |
| Annual rebate from Wealth Club | 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 0.6%). Commission is paid by the product provider so there is no additional charge to you.
Please see the provider's documents, including the key information document, for more details on the total fees and charges.
Annual rebate
The Hargreave Hale AIM VCT offer includes 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 the net asset value of the offer shares issued to you when you invest. Terms and conditions apply.
Our view
The Hargreave Hale AIM VCT offers investors one of the most diverse and liquid portfolios of any VCT.
While qualifying AIM investments still make up the backbone of the portfolio, the VCT also includes unquoted opportunities as well as non-qualifying main market equities and a sizable allocation to non-qualifying fixed income assets. This kind of exposure is not generally available in other VCTs, although we note it means the team is spread comparatively thin.
The mix of asset classes could help make the VCT less volatile than other AIM VCTs. That is not to say the trust is immune to market volatility. Weakness in UK smaller companies more broadly has hit the VCT’s performance and, as with all VCTs, this remains a higher risk investment.
Fundraising on AIM has declined significantly over the last two years, resulting in limited new investment opportunities. There are some signs things are improving and the manager expects to see attractively valued opportunities from both IPOs and existing portfolio companies looking to raise new capital.
With sizeable allocations to more liquid main market equities and fixed income investments, and c. 14.9% of the trust in cash, the VCT should be well placed to access any opportunities as they arise.
This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 28 July 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.