A Financial Planner who has taken the helm at the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association has launched a new EIS Diploma which he hopes will soon become a standard qualification for advisers.

Inheritance Tax mitigation appears to be becoming a critical reason why advisers are recommending EIS and its use set to boom this year, a report suggests.

Newly released HMRC figures have shown that 2,795 companies raised a total of £1,563 million of funds under the EIS scheme in 2013-14.

The Budget cut to the lifetime allowance is set to fuel demand in VCTs and EIS, experts say.