Augmentum helps investment trusts mark record year for fundraising
Investment trusts are marking a record year for fundraising, with a big focus on renewables.
Zopa backer Augmentum Fintech is among investment companies that have raised funds this year and industry figures show a record £8.71bn has been raised so far this year.
Industry body the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) said this exceeds the £7.35bn raised over the whole of 2019.
Augmentum Fintech raised £55m in an oversubscribed share placing in July.
This was dwarfed by other investment trusts such as growth capital focused Schiehallion, which raised £503m in a secondary fundraising and Digital 9 Infrastructure which raised £300m in an initial public offering in March and later attracted another £450m.
Fundraising by existing companies has been led by the renewable energy infrastructure sector, which has raised £1.69bn so far this year.
This was followed by infrastructure, which raised £988m and growth capital which attracted £988m.
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“Healthy fundraising by investment companies this year is a sign that they have bounced back from the pandemic and are continuing to meet investors’ needs,” Richard Stone, chief Executive of the AIC, said.
“It’s particularly encouraging to see such significant fundraising for long-term assets in areas such as renewable energy infrastructure and ambitious growth companies.
“ Directing capital into these areas is critical to rebuilding the economy as the recovery from the pandemic gathers pace. There is clearly strong investor demand and the closed-ended structure of investment companies continues to provide investors with a proven means of gaining exposure to less liquid assets.”
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