The Axa Framlington AIM venture capital trusts (VCTs) have announced that they are to change fund managers in order to move away from investing in AIM.

The boards of the Framlington AIM VCT and the Framlington AIM VCT 2 have decided to change strategy ‘given the disappointing performance of the AIM market’.

The boards have chosen Downing, a specialist in managing both AIM and unquoted investments, to manage the funds from 1 March 2012.

The VCT and VCT 2 will subsequently be known as the Downing Income VCT 4 and the Downing Income VCT respectively.

A board report explained, ‘The board has, given the disappointing performance of the AIM market, been considering for some time a new strategic direction for the company.

‘Experience over the last few years has shown that AIM is not necessarily the best place for VCT funds, with VCTs specialising in unquoted investments in general having offered better returns.’

Downing has agreed to a round of fundraising for both VCTs in order to provide additional funds for investment and to institute a share buyback scheme.

It will manage the funds for an annual fee of 1.8 per cent, with a cost cap of 3 per cent, which will be one of the lowest in the VCT industry.

After taking control of the funds, Downing proposes to transfer around 50 per cent of the investments into unquoted companies after selling the fund’s AIM stocks with the least potential.

This change in strategy will require shareholder approval, so the new investment policy will be put to shareholders at an annual general meeting in July 2012.