Tax Efficient

Ben Brown talks about Oxford Capital’s reaction after the risk-to-capital condition came into play. He covers the company’s focus on the knowledge-intensive companies and its selection approach. Brown stresses Oxford Capital’s commitment to actively supporting ambitious companies on their growth journey. Going forward, Brown would like to see more calm to allow for the current changes to bed in to see their effects.

As Symvan Capital has recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, co-founder Kealan Doyle discusses the company’s first exit. He explains Symvan’s approach to “zombies” in the portfolio. Doyle shares his view on the effect the requirement to hold EIS shares for at least three years has on investors. He also touches upon potential sector diversification prospects and future developments at Symvan.

Matt Dickens discusses changes in the Ingenious’ model after the Autumn Budget 2017. He talks about growing opportunities of the company’s EIS media offering, focused on the production of global TV, film and video content. He explains deployment speed and exit mechanism in its media investments. Dickens also shares his insights on advisers’ mixed reaction toward EIS changes after the Patient Capital Review.

On the eve of launching a new EIS fund, founder Mark Pearson talks about his entrepreneurial journey and Fuel Ventures’ background. He stresses the potential of digital tech as a scalable opportunity and discusses the company’s selection process. Pearson also talks about his emphasis on support and involvement into the investee company’s journey. He then explains the rationale between Fuel Venture’s business model focused on investing into a small number of companies.

Louise Farley explains that the Patient Capital Review didn’t change much for Deepbridge as the company had previously had a knowledge-intensive focus. She covers the underlying investments in Deepbridge’s portfolio, deal flow and expansion into new specialist sub-sectors of tech and life science. Farley also explains the company’s support philosophy for investee companies.

Steve Harris talks about Committed Capital’s pedigree in technology investments. He discusses the company’s selection regime. He also stresses the importance of investing more in research and development as “R&D is a linchpin to serve the UK technology sector.” Speaking about Committed Capital’s USP, he believes that discipline and systematicity are two factors that set it apart from the competition.

David Craven talks about Blackfinch’s shift towards technology, innovation and growth in the EIS space after the Patient Capital Review. He discusses the company’s “aggressive” screening process and the underlying investments in the portfolio. Craven stresses Blackfinch’s commitment to support and mentor investee companies on a more personal level. Looking into the future, he would like to see more cooperation in the EIS world to attract more capital and elevate the UK’s position in the tech space.

James Faulkner comments on the market implications of the Patient Capital Review. He then discusses knowledge-intensive companies in Vala’s portfolio and its selection process. Faulkner stresses Vala’s commitment to mentoring and helping investee companies through to exit. He also signals the need for greater digitisation of the administrative process of EIS investing.