EIS Navigator Podcast: An all-star panel discuss EIS & VCTs in 2024 and look forward to 2025

Yet again, the EIS Navigator team has got its all-star panel to discuss what happened in 2024 and how 2025 is shaping up.

This episode is the customary year-end panel. An all-star group of experts get together to discuss what happened in 2024 and the prospects for 2025. This year, Christiana Stewart-Lockhart, Director General of the EIS Assocation, Kealan Doyle, CEO & Director of Symvan Capital, and Ewoud Karelse, Specialist-Product at Evelyn Partners, bring their knowledge and insight.

In a wide-ranging discussion, we talk about fundraising in 2024, the effect of the budget and how it has brought a focus on tax rather than investment; and the performance of the underlying funds. We chat through how EIS has become more attractive for IHT planning; and the effect on the market of the changes in SEIS limits as well as how closing deals is taking longer. We think about valuations and the availability of funding, exit activity, how AI and climate tech are still popular and looking forward to 2025.

As usual, the panel bring a lot of knowledge and insights. 2024 was an eventful year so listen and find out what it all means for investors and advisers.

Listen to the episode here:

Christiana Stewart-Lockhart is the Director General of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA). She previously spent more than a decade working in Westminster including ten years at the Institute of Economic Affairs. She also founded EPICENTER, a Brussels-based network of some of the most respected think tanks from across Europe. Christiana holds a BA in Politics from the University of York. She is a member of TISA’s Children’s Financial Education Policy Council and also sits on the Advisory Board for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.

Ewoud Karelse started his career in financial services with Allenbridge in 2000 and joined Towry Law in 2008 before joining Tilney in 2016, and Evelyn Partners in 2022. Ewoud is responsible for the research and selection of Venture Capital Trusts; (Seed) Enterprise Investment Schemes; Business Relief for Inheritance Tax Planning (AIM and non-AIM), and Social Investment Tax Relief products. He is also well versed in the use of Business Investment Relief for International clients.

Kealan Doyle is CEO and co-founder of Symvan Capital. He has worked with venture capital companies for 15 years, both in a corporate finance advisory capacity as well as a fund manager. He prefers to invest in a wide range of technology companies, but is also very interested in finding synergies within the Symvan portfolio of companies. Before his involvement in venture capital investing, Kealan previously lead a structured equity products team at HSBC, and has worked at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Together with Nicholas Nicolaides, he has since founded his own entrepreneurial businesses to focus on VC investing. Kealan holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto.

Disclaimer

Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments.  Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.  Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.