Selling eight funds that were still working cost ICG 5.5%
This trust sells mature fund stakes on the secondary market roughly every other year, while they are still performing, and because it is listed it has to publish the price. In April 2025 it sold eight fund positions, vintages 2014 to 2020, for £62 million at a 5.5% discount to their carrying value at 30 September 2024. Those positions had returned 1.6 times cost. It was not raising liquidity, and it chose the moment.
Key numbers, and what they mean
5.5%
The discount on eight mature fund positions sold in April 2025, measured against their carrying value at 30 September 2024. Those positions had returned 1.6 times cost and a 15% internal rate of return.
15.9%
The discount on its previous sale, in December 2023. The trust does not say what valuation date that one was measured against, so the two prices are not a like-for-like comparison.
£10M
Undrawn commitment released by the April 2025 sale, against a £635 million undrawn book. It was not selling for liquidity.
4 in 5 years
Secondary sales of mature fund investments, by the trust's own count. Two of the four carry a published price.
Portfolio by type, January 2026
Primary fund investments52%
Co-investments34%
Secondary fund interests14%
Its own categories; it calls co-investments Direct. Undrawn commitments were £635.3 million against £227.1 million of liquidity, an over-commitment of 32.1% of net asset value.
The read-through
From the report
Takeaway: how to apply it to a portfolio
Eight fund positions, vintages 2014 to 2020, sold for £62 million at a 5.5% discount to their September 2024 carrying value, having returned 1.6 times cost.
Your exit has a price, and it is quotable. A diversified tail of mature, still-performing fund interests cleared at roughly 95 pence against a six-month-old mark. That is the order of magnitude to put into your own liquidity plan, rather than zero or a fire-sale guess.
The April 2025 discount is stated against the 30 September 2024 valuation, roughly six months before the sale was announced. The December 2023 sale was reported at 15.9% with no reference date given at all.
A discount means nothing without the date of the mark it is measured against. Ask what valuation the price was struck off and how old it was, because a number quoted against a stale mark flatters the seller and tells you little about what you would get today.
The sale released £10 million of undrawn commitment against a £635 million book, and the stated reason was a strong pricing environment and positions with limited future potential relative to other opportunities.
The best time to test the bid is when you do not need the money, because the option to walk away is the only thing that gets you a decent price. Price your tail while nothing is wrong.
The Argus lensA 5.5% discount against a six-month-old mark is not the same as 5.5% against today's. Knowing what a reported carrying value actually rests on, and how stale it is, is the difference between a price and a guess. That read is ours.
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About the source
The trust's announcement of 2 April 2025 gives the eight positions, their vintages, the £62 million of net proceeds, the 5.5% discount to the 30 September 2024 valuation, the 1.6 times return and the £10 million of released commitments. Its results for the year to 31 January 2026 restate those figures and give the balance sheet. The December 2023 sale and its 15.9% discount are from the results for the year to 31 January 2024.