EIS, VCT & BR

BhanuVekria

Hello,

We have recently acquired a client with these products.

I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to share their letter of authority for these products.

This is the first time I am researching these so would appreciate any help and what to look out for.

Jen_Berwick

I've experience with a few clients who we have set these up for. Whilst we don't have an LOA you could view, I've a few pointers which might help.
Given the underlying investments, up to date valuations are not always available. Some products only value once a quarter or half yearly for example.

When we recommend these products to clients, we check the following:

• Asset allocation.
• Access to capital - how liquid is the investment? i.e. some aim to pay out within 1 month of a withdrawal request.
• Target returns
• How is the investment set up? i.e. some invest through a self managed portfolio, others use an external investment company.
• Governance - how do they govern themselves to ensure compliance etc. Some providers have an external board of directors to help review the underlying investments.
• Gearing
• Does the investment participate in the Direct Payment Scheme whereby the provider can pay the proceeds direct to HMRC to settle IHT bill on the investor's death.

You could probably get a lot of this informaiton from their brochures and Key Facts documents.

Hope this helps.

PeterM

Date of deployment for each individual EIS company held. Unless it is an approved EIS fund, the 3 year qualifying period starts when the money is invested in the underlying investee company which can be a considerable time after a client sends their money to the EIS provider.

BhanuVekria

Hi Jen & Peter,

Many thanks for your inputs, that is a perfect start.