OpinionOct 21 2014

In the past two years, EISs have become more attractive

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I recently read your four-page special report in Investment Adviser.

The article ‘Strategic options to aid tax planning’ made some really good points. This topic – enterprise investment scheme (EIS) investment – is of growing interest to advisers and has some interesting angles in relation to pension changes.

But I just wanted to highlight one area where the article seemed to be out of line with the reality we see in our daily practice.

Commenting about the EIS, Jonothan McColgan of Combined Financial Strategies, stated that “… a number of changes through the years have reduced these benefits. So demand for EIS has really fallen over the last five years.”

Having had a conversation with our managing partner, Matt Taylor, we both agreed that Mr McColgan’s assessment was unfounded.

Having had a conversation with our managing partner, we both agreed that Mr McColgan’s assessment was unfounded.

Since the changes in government legislation, which were made in 2012, the EIS has become an even more attractive addition to an investor’s portfolio. In fact, total EIS investment has doubled, following a major improvement in the benefits that came into force two years ago.

By the way, there are plenty of statistics to back this up.

Alexander Stephens is business development executive at Rockpool Investments