Patient Capital Trust is a quoted Woodford investment trust, floated in April 2015 partly to provide funds for start-up and early stage companies of the sort that might have difficulty raising cash from traditional venture capital sources. There are 70 investments, in the middle of the target range of 60 to 80, while 57 per cent is in healthcare, including some chunky holdings in American pharma.
Neil Woodford, the fund manager, has always had a predilection for that sector and the biggest holding is in Prothena, which is quoted on Nasdaq and works in the hot area of using the immune system to fight disease.
About 75 per cent of the portfolio is in UK companies and 15 per cent in unquoted ones. This is