Wellcome rates venture investing now as 7.5 out of 10, similar to Brooks Zug, senior managing director of funds of funds manager HarbourVest Partners, who rates venture investing now a "nine" out of 10.

Wellcome Trust, the UK’s biggest endowment with $25bn under management and one of the world’s biggest investors in entrepreneurs, has slimmed its portfolio of third-party venture capital fund managers to just more than 12 from about 50.

The decision comes as Wellcome, which has about a tenth of its assets in venture capital and has a 65% annual rate of return from the asset class, has been investing more directly as a quasi-corporate venturing unit.

Geoffrey Love, team head…