Enterprise Investment Schemes were the focus for London’s September meeting. Susan Phillips, director general of the EIS Association, opened with an overview of Enterprise Investment Schemes and their place in the world of ‘angel’ investing.

Frequently in discussion with the Treasury and HMRC, she told us what the government is thinking with regard to the future direction of EIS and VCT.

Next, she talked about her “Famous Five” - the EIS tax reliefs - and how HMRC was dealing with changes announced in the budget; these still require ‘State Aid’ approval from Europe. Finally Susan gave her opinion of what to look for in a good Enterprise Investment Scheme: mostly good management.

This segued neatly into the second presentation given by Susan MacDonald, joint CEO of Calculus Capital, who are a specialist manager running Enterprise investment schemes. She reminded everyone that tax breaks aside, our investors wanted to see a profit, and that while Loss Relief limits the downside, their aim was exiting investments profitably.

Susan ended by looking at some recent investments they had made and a couple of very profitable exits.

Adam Young of Dragonfly said: “This was a useful meeting. One of my clients has recently set up his own EIS and I have others for whom an EIS might be an appropriate vehicle for future business ventures.”