ThinCats Research shows shift in demographics of Investors

One in four investors aged over 55 will consider moving money onto peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms once the new innovative finance ISA launches in April, according to research from ThinCats, the UK’s largest secured P2P lender for SMEs.

Currently, just 4.5 per cent of investors in this age group use P2P platforms to bypass the banks and lend directly to individuals and businesses. However the new tax wrapper is expected to introduce the asset class to five times this number, as investors wake up to the anticipated tax benefits.

Under the new rules, P2P loans will be included in a brand new ISA wrapper, the Innovative Finance ISA, which will allow lenders to benefit from the extended £15,240 tax-free allowance set out by the Chancellor at last year’s Summer Budget.

The main hesitation for those aged over 55 has been the pressure to preserve capital, with half (47%) worried about the risk of losing money, and 32% are concerned that the sector is still too young an unproven. However the introduction of the ISA is set to radically change this perception in those over 55, with 25% keen to explore the option come April and half (49%) as yet undecided.

Kevin Caley, Chairman and Founder of ThinCats, said: “ISAs are a tax efficient investment option for savers in the UK, so much so that over two thirds of those in later life are saving into one. Their attraction to the older generation rests on the tax benefits, especially for higher earners, but also with the trust and credibility that the tax wrapper affords.

“The new Innovative Finance ISA is set to bring peer to peer lending into this mainstream investment fold, and, with it, a groundswell of mature investors are expected to follow suit. The stage is set for a transformation in the fast growing sector, especially if those later in life decide to capitalise on P2P’s traditionally high interest rates which are so well suited to regular retirement income.”

Three Promoted at Rutland

Rutland is delighted to announce three promotions within its Deal Team; Michael Reynolds has been promoted to Investment Director, with Matthew Hamilton-Allen and Jason Birt both promoted to Investment Manager.

Michael joined Rutland in 2012 and in the last year was instrumental in the successful outcome of the Millbrook bolt-on acquisition of the winter test facility, Test World, in Northern Finland.  He was also involved in the acquisitions of Maplin Electronics and Buy As You View.  He joined Rutland after two years at Hawkpoint Partners in their corporate advisory group.  Prior to Hawkpoint, he was with KPMG where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant completing three years in the Corporate Finance division. 

Matthew is another Hawkpoint graduate and joined Rutland at the end of 2014.  At Hawkpoint he worked within the Corporate Advisory group working mainly on Private Equity backed buy-side and sell-side transactions and brought with him experience across a range of sectors including Healthcare, FIG, Support Services, Consumer Retail and CleanTech.

Jason joined Rutland from Rothschild in December 2014 where he worked on a number of transactions and strategic reviews within the Consumer, Retail & Leisure team.  Prior to Rothschild, Jason spent four years with Ernst & Young, working within the Corporate Finance division, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2012.  During his time at Ernst & Young Jason worked across a range of teams including Corporate Restructuring, Transaction Support and Valuations & Business Modelling.

Both Matthew and Jason have had a busy first year within the Rutland deal team and during that time have made a significant contribution to new deals as well as overall portfolio management.

Commenting on the three promotions, Michael Langdon, Chairman of Rutland Partners said:  “We are delighted to announce the promotion of Michael to Investment Director.  Over the last year he has shown huge commitment and maturity in all the projects he has undertaken and we are pleased to mark his achievements with this promotion.  We are also delighted to promote Matthew and Jason to Investment Manager, an appointment they both thoroughly deserve for all the hard work they have put in during their first year within the deal team at Rutland.“

The promotions of Michael, Jason and Matthew further strengthen the team and cap a busy year for Rutland, which has seen further growth in their portfolio with three new investments.  Rutland continues to focus on special situations and operational change with the primary objective to improve performance through controllable or strategic actions.

BERINGEA PROVIDE LINKDEX WITH £2.5m GROWTH FINANCE

8 January 2016 - London - Linkdex, one of the leading SEO platform providers, has secured £2.5 million from Beringea Growth Finance, provider of asset based and working capital finance. Beringea Growth Finance is part of Beringea LLP, the manager of the ProVen VCTs. 

Linkdex is a world leading Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) software platform.  The company was founded in 2009, to help brands and their agencies grow and lead this business-critical channel. Over 200 teams, covering thousands of brands, now utilise the Linkdex Enterprise SEO platform across the globe, with the vast majority of the world’s largest advertising and SEO agencies using it as their primary solution. 

Mark Taylor, Head of Beringea Growth Finance said: “Linkdex is a great business, with a strong management team which is operating in a dynamic growth sector and we are pleased to be able to support Linkdex in the next stage of its growth. We are also delighted to be supporting this company alongside Amadeus Capital Partners and Oxford Capital, two firms we know very well”.

Mark Smith, CEO of Linkdex said: “This new funding will allow Linkdex to accelerate its growth plans. We are very pleased to be working with Beringea. Not only are the Growth Finance team’s investment processes very clear and efficient, but the company also has a wealth of expertise and knowledge in our sector.

Boundary Capital joins syndicate to invest in Desktop Genetics to Advance Genome Editing Software Platform

Boundary Capital Partners joins syndicate and Illumina to invest in Desktop Genetics’ technology to support the platform’s integration with NGS pipelines and improve CRISPR genome editing workflows

Desktop Genetics receive investment from Illumina

London, UK – 8th January 2016: Desktop Genetics Ltd (“DTG” or “the Company”), a software company revolutionizing the way biologists use CRISPR gene editing technology, announced today that it has received investment funding from Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN), the global leader in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. The investment will be used to fund the continued development and commercialization of the DESKGEN platform with a particular focus on integration with NGS pipelines.

The investment from Illumina follows DTG’s recent fundraising from a syndicate of venture capitalists and angel investors that included Boundary Capital Partners. This combined funding is being used to continue developing DTG’s proprietary DESKGEN genome editing software platform and core CRISPR algorithms. DTG is also investing in the expansion of its existing sales infrastructure and expanding marketing efforts to drive adoption of the technology across the industry.

The DESKGEN platform makes CRISPR gene editing more predictable, accessible and efficient, providing scientists with the capabilities they need to scale their genomics research. Users are walked through every step of the CRISPR gene editing process with a suite of lab-validated algorithms derived from leading peer-reviewed research and industry expertise. With DESKGEN, researchers can access the latest advances, algorithms and expertise in CRISPR gene editing as new techniques are invented, enhancing their productivity and reducing the time and cost of gene editing.

Through partnerships with specialist service-providers including Transcriptic and Horizon Discovery, DTG offers CRISPR library design, synthesis and screening services, for high-throughput cell line engineering services in the cloud. To date, the DESKGEN platform has enabled over 2,000 gene editing experiments and has driven thousands of users to design and access the optimal reagents for their research.