Richard Hoskins: The age of change - financial advisers be aware

Changes to the ‘qualifying investment' rules last year, driven by the European Union and HM Treasury, have already completely altered the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and venture capital trust (VCT) market. The result of the changes, including the age of investible companies being less than seven years, has seen the risk profile increase and the market fragment - after all, generally speaking, the more mature the company, the more established and stable. In addition, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is clamping down on ‘cookie cutter' companies - that is, those that replicate the same t...