Four fund managers have joined the CoInvestor platform to boost the range of enterprise investment schemes available to retail investors and their advisers.
Mercia Fund Management, Deepbridge Capital, Par Equity and Symvan Capital have joined the alternative investments platform, alongside existing fund managers Oxford Capital, MMC Ventures and Oxford Technology.
Initial funds available on the platform are focused on enterprise investment schemes (EIS), but there is a pipeline of venture capital trust (VCT) managers set to join the platform over the coming weeks.
The addition of the funds to CoInvestor means allowing direct and advised investors to co-invest alongside leading tax-efficient fund managers on the same terms.
According to Charles Owen, founder of CoInvestor, the evolution of the platform to enable investment into funds, in addition to direct co-investment opportunities, was driven by the desire to provide investors and advisers with a ‘one stop shop’ for tax-efficient investing.
We continue to see a trend towards investors looking to use online tools to make direct and fund investments. Anna SlemmingsMr Owen said: "Following continued support from the industry for what we are doing at CoInvestor, we’re thrilled to be expanding our service, providing more choice for investors and better access for advisers."
In addition, following what Mr Owen called increased demand from financial advisers for simplification of the fund application process, CoInvestor has eradicated most of the traditionally paper-based application process and investors and advisers alike can apply to invest in a fund entirely online.
Anna Slemmings, spokesman for MMC Ventures, said: “We continue to see a trend towards investors looking to use online tools to make direct and fund investments and it’s great to see the CoInvestor platform extending its offering to meet this need.
"The addition of online fund applications to the platform will offer investors the convenience of applying for our EIS funds online without disrupting our current operational processes.”
Earlier this month, CoInvestor launched an online service called EISWallet, which enables advisers and their clients to consolidate all the investor's various EIS documentation into one online file, reducing the reliance on paper-based documentation and tax certificates.
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