A former Financial Planner hopes to entice more Financial Planning professionals to become members of the EIS Association with a cut in fees for advisers and wealth managers.

EISA director general Mark Brownridge, who was a Financial Planner with Accredited Financial Planning Firm Mazars, until taking the role last summer, has set up a new dedicated membership offering.

Fees for IFAs for the first year have been discounted from £250 per annum per individual to £100. Corporate rates are also available at initial discounted rates, EISA said.

Additional benefits include a bespoke, lower-cost fee structure, discounts from service provider partners, such as PI insurers, and free access to EIS and SEIS research data, analysis and expert insights.

Mr Brownridge said: “As a former Financial Planner myself, I can say with confidence that the benefits of EISA membership to advisers are now considerable and represent great value. I’m looking forward to welcoming many more of those involved in my former profession as EISA members in 2017.”

Advisers who join EISA will also:

• Be eligible for discounted fees for taking the EISA-accredited EIS Diploma.
• Have access to the members’ area of the EISA website, containing a wide range of resources and information available only to EISA members
• Be entitled to free entrance at workshops, technical seminars and other EISA events,
• Receive updates from EISA’s regulatory service on tax, legislation and policy changes affecting EIS and SEIS

Mr Brownridge said: “EIS and SEIS are becoming an integral part of Financial Planning, used by growing numbers of financial advisers and wealth managers. There are many reasons why this is happening; greater pension restrictions are fuelling demand for alternative tax enhanced investment products and, in part linked to this, there is more information available about EIS and SEIS and increasing understanding of how they work, the investment risks and rewards, and their numerous tax benefits.”

He said: “Creating a new dedicated EISA memberships category for advisers, with bespoke benefits and fees, builds on the steps we have already taken to assist advisers as they use EIS and SEIS more. Last year we updated the EIS Diploma with new content specifically created to demonstrate how EIS and SEIS can be used in Financial Planning, while announcing our intention to enhance our member offering for advisers.”

EISA is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to aid the provision of capital to UK small and medium-sized enterprises through the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.