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ABOUT OXFORD CAPITAL
Oxford Capital is one of the largest
and most experienced tax-efficient
investment managers in the UK. We have
raised and invested more than £300m. At
the heart of everything we do is a simple
guiding principle – we manage our clients’
money as though it were our own.
We have two core investment strategies.
Firstly, through our growth strategy
we invest in small UK companies from
a range of different industries, with a
particular focus on technology. Clients
can build a portfolio of shares in these
companies by investing in the Oxford
Capital Growth EIS, our discretionary
managed investment service.
Our second strategy is focused on
investment in infrastructure assets
capable of generating stable, long-term
cash flows. Renewable energy has been
a particular area of interest to date, and
clients have now been investing in solar
power and anaerobic digestion through
our Infrastructure EISs for a number of
years.
The Oxford Capital Estate Planning
Service (EPS) makes our asset-backed
infrastructure investments available
to investors who are seeking long-
term IHT mitigation through BPR.
Clients can apportion their investment
between two strategies, to achieve
their preferred balance between capital
growth and liquidity. The ‘Return’
strategy targets annual growth of 5%
and liquidity within six months. For
clients who may need access to capital
more quickly, the ‘Access’ strategy
targets liquidity within a month and
annual growth of 3%. The EPS currently
invests primarily in renewable energy
assets, but a range of other infrastructure
assets are likely to be added to the
portfolio over the coming years.
THE TEAM AND OUR PRODUCTS
We have an experienced Infrastructure
investment team, responsible for
sourcing, executing and managing
underlying investments for the Oxford
Capital Estate Planning Service. The
team was named Investor of the Year
at the New Energy Awards in 2012 and
2013, in recognition of their work in the
renewable energy sector.
Oliver Hughes leads the team. Through
previous roles at ING Barings and
Devonshire Capital, Oliver has more
than 15 years’ experience of investment
banking and structured finance. He
also has considerable operational and
development experience in renewable
energy.
Investment Director Barney Rhys-Jones
has overall responsibility for monitoring
and maximising the performance
of our portfolio of infrastructure
assets. Barney spent seven years with
Bain & Company before moving into
operational roles within utilities and
renewable energy companies. Before
joining Oxford Capital, he was COO at
Good Energy plc.
Oliver and Barney work with a broader
team including Jing Bai and Jevon
Carding. Jing has a background in
project valuation and management,
particularly in the renewable energy
sector. She has previously worked
for Consensus Business Group and
Lightsource Renewable Energy. Jevon
joined Oxford Capital from consultancy
firm L.E.K, where he specialised in
providing operational and transaction
advice to the energy and agriculture
sectors. He has expertise in commercial
modelling and process improvement.
The core Infrastructure team is further
strengthened by a number of Operating
Partners – highly experienced industry
professionals who consult with us on
the legal, commercial and development
aspects of individual investment projects.
OUR INVESTMENT APPROACH
The EPS’s primary objective is to
maintain the value of capital invested.
Because of this objective, two core
principles are at the heart of our
investment strategy. Firstly, we buy
real assets. We either purchase assets
directly, or we finance companies which
themselves directly own and operate
infrastructure assets. In this way all our
investments are asset-backed. Secondly,
we look for returns that are stable and
predictable, through investment in
assets capable of generating long-term,
contracted revenues.
We also have an intensive focus on
risk mitigation. We avoid taking on
planning or development risk and we
aim to reduce uncertainty wherever
possible, even if doing so might reduce
the maximum achievable return. For
example, for our solar investments
we aim to take out yield insurance
to protect our investors against the
downside risk of significant asset
underperformance.
Our Infrastructure team has built
strong working relationships with asset
suppliers, developers, installers and
maintenance companies. Many of the
underlying investments for the Oxford
Capital Estate Planning Service are
sourced through this network. Before
investments are made, the investment
team creates a detailed proposal
for presentation to our Investment
Committee. This committee, which
includes external members, has
responsibility for our final investment
decisions.
“Clients looking for IHT protection are also often looking for a stable investment,
which makes renewable energy and infrastructure assets a good fit. The underlying
assets in infrastructure-focused BPR products will often generate a large proportion of
their revenues from long-term contracts, or from government tariffs and subsidies that
can be predictable, index-linked and paid out over periods of twenty years or more”
Andrew Sherlock, Oxford Capital
+44 (0)1865 860 760
