Oxford Capital and MMC Ventures are joining the CoInvestor platform to offer private investors a new way to access EIS investment opportunities.
It will allow investors to take part in EIS investments led by both companies so they can choose their own direct investments but benefit from a professionally managed process.
Charles Owen, founder of CoInvestor, said: “The benefits for both investors and fund managers are compelling.
“Investors get access to higher quality EIS investments that they can choose themselves, being managed by professional managers.
“Fund managers gain access to a wider pool of investors, increased levels of investment activity and greater flexibility.
“Both Oxford Capital and MMC are demonstrating their conviction that this is an important development in increasing access to tax efficient investments.”
The announcement that Oxford Capital and MMC are joining the platform takes the number of fund managers with CoInvestors to 24 - including TIME, Puma, Octopus and Downing.
CoInvestor allows private investors to co-invest alongside professional EIS fund managers on a deal by deal basis and was formally launched in December amid growing demand for EIS.
EIS investment in the 2013 to 2014 tax year, which is the last year for which data is available, increased by more than 40 per cent, according to HM Revenue & Customs.
Funding raised for EIS over that tax year reached the £1.5bn mark.
Richard Roberts, director of private clients at Oxford Capital, said: “We believe that the EIS will continue to be a growing focus for large numbers of investors, and while some of them will choose to invest via managed funds, we know there are also many people who may prefer to build their own portfolios of selected EIS-qualifying investments.”
Anna Slemmings of MMC Ventures said: “We feel that the CoInvestor platform is in a good position to service market trends that we have identified in investor sentiment, allowing investors who prefer to self-select deals the opportunity to do so alongside experienced, reputable managers.
“By partnering with CoInvestor we are expecting to engage with a new type of investor, who is different to our current base, but whose outlook and appetite match that of our core investors.”
