1.          The new ECF, VCT, EIS, SEIS and SITR and some regional VC fund rules which will be enacted after the signing of the Finance Act which will, inter alia:

•  restrict the total amounts of "State Aid" tax break funding to a lifetime limit of £12m, except for "knowledge intensive companies" where it will be £20m (note these sums may include R&D and other grants if they fall within the definition of State Aid)
•  ban the use of such monies to do "buy and build" investments
•  restrict investment using such monies to within 7 years of a company making its first commercial sale (10 years if it is a "knowledge intensive company.")

 It would be well worth getting a qualified expert on these schemes to take a look at your portfolio and to check where you own investment boundaries will be in the future. 

2.          The wall of new activity we will see in the crowddfunding market will make the early stage market a very interesting place to be.  With Crowdcube's latest round including investment from DFJ and Numis, Seedrs £10m round including money from Neil Woodford's Patient Capital and   Syndicate Room's recent £1.2m round, we can expect to see an explosion of investment activity.  There are rumours that InvestDen, a new arrival in the market will be splurging on advertising in September and we are seeing the likes of Crowd for Angels, Investing Zone and Venture Founders becoming more and more active.

3.          The resources available to angel and crowd investors are growing all the time.  Make sure you have it all at your fingertips!

• There will be more Angel Training Courses run by the UKBAA and ourselves (call 01749 344 888 for more details). 
• Check out the likes of the Tendr app (a must have for all angels now that Envestors has signed up!) for up to the minute deal flow.  
• The arrival of Crowdnetics in the UK and Crowdsurfer will provide excellent data on crowdfunding. 
• Check out Intelligent Crowd TV – maybe there will be a deal for you in its new weekly “The Seed and EIS Hour”.
• If you want to see what’s hot in London, the go to place is www.tech.london operated by Gust.
• I will be announcing some more exciting news in this area next month so watch this space.

4.          If you are going to need some more cash to start investing in all the angel and crowd deals which will be on offer in the autumn, did you know that Asset Match could help you to sell part of your more successful investments?  Call Stuart Lucas or Iain Baillie on 0207 248 2788 to find out more. 

5.          Remember the power of the crowd is going to force angels to act more quickly and more efficiently or you will lose deals to the crowd.  Are there ways you could speed up your due diligence processes to within a couple of weeks?

6.          Be aware that HMRC’s computerised systems are joining up the dots all the time.  The Chancellor in his efforts to reduce the Deficit is determined that whilst the poor are losing benefits, the wealthy are in his sights too.  A major area of focus for Tax Inspectors is likely to be around EIS   investments, especially angels who like to do a lot of them.  With the digitisation of EIS and SEIS on its way, don’t imagine that a minor breach of the rules will go unnoticed.  In particular remember that if you become a director/employee of an EIS company after you have invested, you may NOT qualify for EIS on any further investments that you make!

7.          Just like with property, it may be wise to start hunting for investment bargains outside London and the Home Counties, where prices are less inflated.  You may well find that there are better deals to be had in the Midlands, the North and Scotland in particular.  Don’t ignore Northern Ireland or the West Country either. 

8.          Are you thinking about the impact on angel investing if EU referendum votes NO?  Whilst leaving the EU could take us out of State Aid rules and other annoyances, if we keep a trade agreement, we may find we are not released from the restrictions.  And of course there is no guarantee a completely independent UK government would keep Tax Break Schemes in place in any case.  At the moment our view is that you should be encouraging both camps to tell you what they intend to do about early stage investment before you decide where you vote will be placed.

9.          With A levels out next week and GCSEs the week after, if your children don’t do quite as expected, they will be in the same boat that many of   our greatest entrepreneurs were at the same age.  Encourage them to try a bit of entrepreneurial activity in the holiday to balance the academic stress next year.  

10.        Whilst you are relaxed and away from work have you thought about your own investment impact?  No-one invests to do bad but are your investments doing enough good?  If you want to learn more about how to make sure your investments have a social impact that you can measure, why not come along to SI=MC2 on 14th October in London?