Its rare for an IFA firm to be started from scratch, and even rarer for it to have a preference for tax advantaged or efficient business like EIS, VCTs, BR and SEIS products. Matthew Bugden cofounded One Four Nine, an IFA firm that does just that.We talk about why they started the firm and why they settled on the strategy they did. We discuss the challenges of getting a new firm off the ground, including developing a strategy that will satisfy funders and getting the right compliance in place. Matthew also gives his views on how to give best advice in this area and the challenges of doing that. We talk about the complexity of advice and the need to get investment and tax aspects right. We also explore issues in the market, such as reporting, transparency and platforms and how he sees the market developing in the future.One Four Nine Group website: https://www.onefourninegroup.co.uk/One Four Nine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/one-four-nine-group/Suggested books:The Jam Retrospective: A Visual History by Agent ProvocateurBioMatthew BugdenChief Executive Officer, One Four Nine GroupHe leads One Four Nine in its pursuit to become one of the UK’s leading independent financial advice and fund management groups.With a career spanning over 35 years within the financial services industry, Matthew has enviable strategic management experience and a significant network of relationships with financial advisers, their support teams and professional connections. Previously working at one the UK’s leading alternative investment managers for 18 years, he and his large team was responsible for its direction and interaction with financial advisers and successfully built and maintained relationships across the entire advice sector, whilst raising in excess of £8 billion through tax efficient alternative investments. The first 16 years of his career were spent working across corporate and retail banking clients for a major bank prior to moving to a large corporate client.Matthew is perfectly placed to talk to owners of financial advice firms on how they can spend more time doing what they enjoy – delivering excellent service to and quality outcomes for One Four Nine clients.

Modwenna Rees-Mogg has been involved in the world of angel investing for a couple of decades. As the founder of AngelNews, a news service focus on this area, she had a wide perspective on the market and the trends within in.We spend the first half of our discussion talking about the angel market and its structure. She discusses the rise in "tourists", how experience investors have recently been cautious and what effect will have. We touch on syndicate structures and whether investors are getting value for money.In the second half we discuss the prospects for the market, and valuations in particular. Modwenna is quite bearish on the near future: we discuss why this might be and what is likely to happen.AngelNews website: https://www.angelnews.co.uk/Funding Index website: https://www.funding-index.com/Suggested books:The Art of War by Sun Tzu

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. FergusonBioBrian MorettaHead of Tax Enhanced Services, Hardman & CoBrian 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.

One of the challenges that venture capital investors have to accept is that there probably won't be liquidity for their shares until the company exits. Several companies have been trying to change that, not entirely without success, with JP Jenkins one of the longest standing. Their Head of Corporate Development, Mason Doick, comes onto the podcast to discuss the state of play and prospects for things getting better.We talk about the challenges for improving matters. Mason gives good perspectives on the lack of liquidity, as we dig into why its so hard. He compares the UK and the US, which has been doing better, and we discuss what lessons we can learn here to improve matters.We also get into the challenges of getting appropriate information flows, how some private companies don't understand the long-term benefits of getting those flows right. Mason also talks about the typical companies that achieve successful secondary markets and how companies can start preparing facilities for their investors when the time is right.Email: md@jpjenkins.comJP Jenkins website: https://www.jpjenkins.com/Suggested books:Add then Multiply by David B. HorneBioMason DoickHead of Corporate Development, JP JenkinsHaving worked for a number of years in financial services, private equity and investment management, Mason has come across his fair share of deals. He is currently Head of Corporate Development at JP Jenkins, responsible for all new admissions on the matched bargain trading platform / secondary market. From public markets to private, Mason has raised capital for both SME’s and established private businesses, and latterly in providing liquidity and exits options for those locked in shareholders. He was educated at the University of Portsmouth and holds the CISI Investment Advice Diploma.

The venture capital industry has seen steady flow of new entrant over the past few years, whether EIS or GP/LP funds. Richard Hoskins of Kin Group speaks with almost all of them and discusses the challenges and pitfalls for those who want to start a new fund or invest in one.We start by discussing the current environment. We talk about the people who want to start funds, what their motivations are and what they usually bring the table. Richard talks about how these people are really building a new business and the challenges of differentiating themselves.We also talk about some of the specific areas that can be challenging. Raising funds is at the front of many people's minds and Richard has some insights into how the current environment means that its may come from unexpected directions. We also dig into the importance of high quality deal flow and how new managers might establish and improve it.Email: rhoskins@kin-group.co.ukLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoskinsrichard/Kin Group website: https://www.kincapital.co.uk/Suggested books:Atomic Habits by James ClearBooks by Jim CollinsBioRichard HoskinsCo-Principal, Kin GroupRichard is Co-Principal and Co-Founder of Kin Group. Having worked in Venture Capital for 17 years, he has seen the Venture industry move from the niche sector it once was, to the booming asset class it is today. He has worked in a variety of VC roles, including; fundraising, fund management and fund administration.  He has been described as “one of the most knowledgeable commentators on the venture capital world” (Telegraph, 2017). In particular he has helped numerous aspiring VC asset managers setting up their first VC fund and assisted larger VC asset management firms grow to the next level.

The partnership between Foresight and Williams Advanced Engineering is unique in the EIS and VCT space. Andy Bloxam manages this area for Foresight and he gives us an insight into this unique relationship.We start off by discussing how the relationship came about, and how it works in practice. We dig into how it has evolved over time, how Foresight and Williams balance their relative strengths and its set up to avoid a extractive relationship.Given the emphasis on deeptech, we also discuss investing in hardware. We talk about the evolving landscape, how technology is affecting lead times and the challenges of testing markets and first customers in this area. Finally, Andy gives one of the most innovative ideas to improve the EIS and VCT market that we have had on the podcast!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-bloxam/Foresight website: https://www.foresightgroup.eu/Foresight Williams website: https://www.foresightwilliams.co.uk/Suggested book:Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten T. HansenBioAndy BloxamDirector, Private Equity, Foresight GroupAndy joined Foresight’s Private Equity team in 2018 and is a Director in the London office. His primary responsibility is sourcing, making and managing investments on behalf of the Foresight Williams Technology EIS and VCT funds.Prior to joining Foresight, Andy spent more than 15 years advising and investing in early-stage UK technology companies. Most recently he was a Director at Committed Capital, a tech-focused private equity and advisory firm. Prior to that, he was an Associate at Strata Partners, a tech-focused corporate finance advisor, and previously an investment banking analyst at JPMorgan, as part of the tech M&A team.Andy holds a BA in Economics from the University of Cambridge and an MBA with distinction from Surrey Business School.

Getting financial and transaction data on private companies can be challenging. MarktoMarket aims make that easier, which gives CEO Doug Lawson a great perspective on the market, which he shares in this episode.First we talk about data. We chat about what the issues are, and how MarktoMarket aims to get around those. Doug talks about how some of it is looking in the right place and how patterns emerge when there is enough data. He also discusses the extent to which processes can be automated with AI and when an analytical input is needed.We then discuss some of the insights that this has given them about the private markets, especially valuation. Doug breaks down how not everything is a bubble and talks about how different parts of the markets have behaved. We also talk about how valuations affect investment strategies and where they are being used in a kind of valuation arbitrage to enhance value.Email: doug@marktomarket.ioMarktoMarket website: https://marktomarket.io/Suggested book:Bad Blood by John CarreyrouBioDoug LawsonCEO and Co-founder, MarktoMarketDoug is cofounder and CEO of MarktoMarket, a data platform specialising in private company intelligence, which is backed by VCs 24Haymarket, Techstart and Par Equity. Doug founded MarktoMarket following a career in fund management, where he specialised in investing in private and public companies. Before this he worked in M&A and qualified as a chartered accountant.

St James Place is the biggest writer of business in across the whole tax advantaged market. In this episode we get Luke Barnett on to discuss how they select individual products and how that translates into panel building.Luke gives great insights into how they look at individual products and how they weight up the different strategies, how they look at teams and track records. We also discuss fees and how to look at them.When it comes to panel building, St James Place has a relatively straightforward strategy. But the current environment is bringing additional challenges and we talk about the strong demand for VCTs and how they manage a panel when offers close so quickly.St James Place Wealth Management website: https://www.sjp.co.uk/Suggested book:Bad Blood by John CarreyrouBioLuke BarnettHead of Tax Advantaged Strategies, St. James Place Wealth ManagementLuke is the Head of Tax Advantaged Strategies at St James’s Place, and oversees the firms panel of products in the Tax-Advantaged market. He recently joined from MJ Hudson where he covered the same space and oversaw the manager research and due diligence process across EIS, VCT and BR products.

Unusually for an EIS fund manager, VGC has moved it the market from the institutional end. Their focus on consumer and digital media is somewhat unusual in the sector and we effectively do a case study on one of their investments. Kick Game is a premium sneaker retailer. Parminder talks about how they identified the company as the right player in a market and stalked it to invest. He also discusses what they did after investing, how they developed its retail and marketing strategy to enable its growth.We also look at how corporate partners fit into the venture landscape. We talk about the benefits for corporates and startups, finding the right partner and how to avoid problems that may arise.VGC Partners website: https://vgcp.co.uk/Suggested books:Good to Great by Jim CollinsBioParminder Basran, Founding Partner and CEO, VGC PartnersParminder worked in FMCG for 7 years before attending business school, subsequently founding VGC in 2011.The first investments were made on a deal-by-deal basis, and these included Metropolis London, a music studio, production, publishing and agency business.Subsequent investments included Round World Entertainment, the holding company of 10Ten Talent, the football and talent management business, Iconic Images, the owner of the photographic archive of Terry O’Neill and Super Awesome, the fast-growing kid tech business based in London.In March 2019 the team achieved a final close of VGC Partners Fund I, backed by institutional investors, family offices and high net worth individuals, to focus on growth companies in the consumer and media sectors in the U.K.Parminder attended Rutgers University in New Jersey and has a BA in Management Studies from the University of Leeds. He also holds an MBA from London Business School.

Social impact investing is an area that sounds good in principle but is often not well understood by those not involved in it. We asked Emma Steele, who runs the social benefit funds at Ascension, to come on and discuss investing in this topical area.We get her to define a social benefit that is investible and she brings some examples. We talk about the twin objectives of profit and social benefit, how they conflict (spoiler: they don't necessarily) and how to ensure companies don't pivot away from providing a social benefit. We also talk about measurementShe discusses the wider environment, how companies view impact investing and for-profit companies as instruments of societal change. We also talk about the investor perspective and how this area may develop going forward.Ascension website: https://www.ascension.vc/Emma Steele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-steele-b7a98832/Suggested book:Lean Impact by Ann Mei Chang and Eric RiesBioEmma Steele - Investment Director, AscensionEmma heads up Ascension’s impact funds, immersed in sector verticals and business models with potential for both commercial and impact returns at scale. She manages fundraising, deployment and portfolio management for the Fair By Design and Good Food Funds across Fintech/Insurtech (improving financial inclusion), Energy (reducing costs), Transport and Food (helping healthy and affordable food environments to scale).Prior to joining Ascension in January 2018, Emma spent some time in the charity sector at Eastside Primetimers, progressing the sustainability of charity revenue models and encouraging social investment in the sector (such as FSE’s debt deal into the Giving Machine). Prior to that, she spent five and a half years in the corporate banking division of Santander UK as a Credit Partner in the Large Corporates team and Associate Director in the Healthcare Finance team.Emma holds an MSc in Development Economics from the University of Sussex and a BSc in Philosophy, Politics & Economics from the University of Warwick.