3i Group's chief executive has defended the firm's decision to move out of venture capital investments, which he said suit smaller managers, and has outlined the group's plans to target new asset classes, including Indian infrastructure.

Michael Queen said yesterday at the SuperReturn conference in Berlin: "We sold the VC portfolio because we found it difficult to transfer a successful model to new areas. It produced reasonable returns over a long period, but the reasons for those returns varied. VC is more of a craft business, and we therefore felt it would be better managed by smaller managers, while we focused on larger businesses, where knowledge could be transferred".