Vct / eis

danm

All
Can anyone point me towards a decent independent resource on VCTs and EIS products - TiA

pip895

HL has some data but I think Trustnet is better.. That's on VCTs - haven't looked into EIS myself.

mostwelcome

for current offers Id try https://wealthclub.co.uk

They do both VCT and EIS

Or did you mean an explainer for the tax rules?

bowlhead99

I've used wealthclub for VCT purchases (and their predecessor Club Finance), though I don't know that anyone would call them an independent resource as they obviously have a vested interest in you buying through them as intermediary for the commission, which will vary from product to product; their commentary on what is available is probably no more impartial than (e.g.) HL's Wealth 50 or whatever.

Still, they usually seem to have a reasonable handle on what remaining capacity is available in the various live offers, and it will be cheaper than going direct and simply giving the fund manager all the initial fee and ongoing trail.

With this sort of investing you really have to do your own research. The Lemonfool discussion forum has a VCT board in which fellow investors post their thoughts or AGM commentaries etc, you would find more on-topic comments about individual VCTs there than here for example; it's a niche area.

EIS is harder to get a handle on, as EIS by its nature is about having direct participation in individual qualifying entities; rather than VCT where you are buying a share in a wrapped 'investment trust' type vehicle which undergoes new fundraising from time to time.

EIS strategies may involve committing to a blind pool of investment with a discretionary/ advisory mandate and having your money spent as and when opportunities arise (so unlike VCT, the timing of tax relief is not when you say you will invest, but when the company completes its fundraise or qualifies, which could be some months down the line).

The mainstream EIS opportunities through places like Crowdcube and Seedrs are a bit of fun and a lot of a punt because you can't practically do due diligence unless you are committing £££ into a single company to get a seat at the table with management and justify the expense of a due diligence provider or large amounts of your own time and expertise.

So to deploy reasonably large amounts of capital as anything other than fun money, you have to trust a discretionary manager group or be a member of a business angel network/syndicate where you take responsibility for putting in some of the legwork yourself. You won't really find independent 'reviews' of such groups (in significant volume covering significant timescale), without being an industry insider.