TLDR:
– Octopus Titan VCT, a venture capital trust with 25,000 investors, wrote down £189 million in investments.
– The trust’s net asset value per share was reduced by 19% to 62.4p.
Octopus Titan VCT, a venture capital trust popular among high earners in Britain, announced significant writedowns on its investments last week. The trust, which has 25,000 investors, reported losses of £469 million over two years due to tumbling valuations of early stage companies it had backed. This move has put the spotlight on venture capital trusts and their tax-favorable status.
One of the companies backed by Octopus Titan, Orbex, aims to launch space rockets from northern Scotland. Despite the writedowns, Octopus Titan remains optimistic, stating that ‘green shoots’ can be seen among some of the high-risk companies it supports.
