The EIS Navigator 50. Venture capital portfolio diversification with Brian Moretta of Hardman & Co and guests
In a slightly different episode, the EIS Navigator host, Brian Moretta, talks about diversification drawing strongly on excerpts from previous guests. Support is supplied by Tom Britton of SyndicateRoom, Sanjeev Gordhan who was then at Newable, Stephen Page of SFC Capital and Paul Tselentis of 24 Haymarket.
We start by talking about how venture capital differs from quoted equities and how this leads to a slightly different approach to diversification. In particular, the number of investments required is a lot more than people usually think. We also discuss how to get there, highlighting the differences between VCTS and EIS funds, showing that choosing them is a more balance decision than might seem on first glance.
Diversification by stage, sector and over time are also discussed. Each matters when building a portfolio and there isn't a short cut to choosing several investments.
As this episode is a bit of experiment, please let us know whether you love it or hate by emailing us at enquiries@hardmanandco.com.
Hardman & Co website: https://www.hardmanandco.com/
Asset allocation white paper: https://www.hardmanandco.com/tes-white-paper-how-much-should-clients-invest-in-venture-capital/
EIS Navigator episodes from which episodes taken:
Tom Britton, SyndicateRoom: https://hardmanandco.com/18-systematic-venture-capital-investing-and-radical-diversification-tom-britton-of-syndicateroom/
Sanjeev Gordhan, Newable: https://hardmanandco.com/11-how-much-to-invest-in-venture-capital-sanjeev-gordhan-of-newable/
Stephen Page, SFC Capital: https://hardmanandco.com/37-state-of-seed-investing-stephen-page-of-sfc-capital/
Paul Tselentis, 24Haymarket: https://hardmanandco.com/42-building-a-differentiated-angel-investment-network-paul-tselentis-of-24haymarket/
SyndicateRoom Beating the Dragons white paper: https://www.syndicateroom.com/guides-and-reports/how-to-outperform-vcs
Suggested book:
High Stakes, No Prisoners by Charles H. Ferguson
Bio
Brian Moretta
Head of Tax Enhanced Services, Hardman & Co
Brian Moretta is Head of Tax Enhanced Services at Hardman & Co. He is an actuary turned fund manager, who then moved into equity research, and has analysed many EIS funds, VCTs and companies, both listed and unquoted. He also has academic credentials, being an Honorary Fellow at Heriot-Watt University, where he does some occasional teaching. This has included teaching MSc students about, inter alia, Modern Portfolio Theory.
He has always had a strong interest in getting underneath companies and understanding how they really work, and he finds venture capital fascinating. Some of this is because transparency is hard, some because the industry is not well understood. He is doing his best to change both of these.
Brian Moretta is also host of the EIS Navigator podcast, and received Highly Commended at the 2021 EISA awards for the category Best Journalist or Advocate.