April 2017 

The European technology venture and growth equity market continues to do well. As of the end of February, two months into the year, figures are up by amount invested (+23%), and the number of transactions reported by the professional press is roaring ahead (nearly doubled). As far as larger transactions are concerned (≥€10 million) however, the market is simply stable.

Download the report here

April 2017

Untapped Unicorns

In 2016, The Entrepreneurs Network partnered with Barclays on the Female Founders Forum – a group of some of the UK’s most successful female entrepreneurs, who’ve joined heads to come up with tangible, actionable recommendations for tackling the funding issue. The project’s first report, Untapped Unicorns, outlines how Britain can scale up female entrepreneurship.

You can acess the full report here

• Yearly deal numbers fell for the first time, by 18%.
• The total amount invested also fell by 12% from 2015.
• Crowdfunding deals at growth-stage increased 10%, with 80% of these deals being completed by companies crowdfunding for the first time.
• There was no significant drop in deal numbers after the EU referendum, suggesting Brexit has so far had little to no short-term impact on equity investment.
• Investment into early-stage life sciences companies is booming. Seed-stage life sciences businesses saw a 19% increase in deals, and a record £202m invested.
• Wales and Northern Ireland bucked the general trend, seeing a 30% and 8% increase in deal numbers respectively.

Read the full report here

3 March 

Edison, the investment research and advisory company, issues its latest report on Listed Private Equity (LPE) which finds that the sector displays a similar risk-reward profile to major equity indices, US real estate investment trusts (REITS) as well as other equity classes over the longer term. 

March 2017 

Shareholder Sentiment Index 2017: Shareholders Frustrated by Lack of Equity Liquidity

Asset Match has launched the Shareholder Sentiment Index 2017 to delve further into the constructs of Britain’s share-holding population, analysing the sentiments, challenges and desires that define the profile of what is an integral community of SME investors. The nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults dissects investor interest in relation to the nation’s private sector capabilities, revealing the challenges faced by investors looking to buy and sell shares in private companies. The research also delves into post-Brexit sentiment towards growth finance and the general appetite for small to mid-cap shares in the current economic climate.

Download the full report HERE

March 2017

Lark research reveals that cyber risks tops the list of concerns for UK wealth management firms

Lark recently carried out a survey of UK wealth management firms that collectively manage £130 billion of assets, representing almost a fifth of the industry, the senior decision makers interviewed believe that data breaches by cyber hackers are the most damaging threat facing the industry.

With the main concerns being about cyber crime, regulation and relationships with insurance brokers, it is unsurprising that the findings in this report can easily be extrapolated and applied to a wide variety of financial institutions.

Click here to download the full report or view the infographic highlighting the key findings here.

March 2017

No region immune to venture capital market downswing

Following 2015’s peak funding levels, 2016 was a challenging year for venture capital (VC) investment across the globe, with decreases in both the number of deals and the total value of VC investment, according to Venture Pulse Q4 2016, a quarterly report on global VC trends published by KPMG Enterprise. Worldwide venture capital activity declined by 24 percent year over year, though total global venture capital investment remained substantial at USD$127.4 billion.*

1 March

Three quarters (74%) of tech entrepreneurs and business leaders are forecasting growth in 2017 according to recent research by Smith & Williamson, the accountancy, investment management and tax group.

27 Februuary 

A recent study commissioned by online printing company, instantprint, which polled the time-keeping habits of 500 SME business owners, has revealed sub-optimal time management as a major barrier to business growth.

24 February

Europe is much further behind the US in late stage tech investing than it appears, according to analysis by Magister Advisors.  Late stage tech funding is far behind the US, and surprisingly over ⅓ of funding rounds in Europe target non-tech e-commerce or marketplace businesses.

16 February 

Asset Match has surveyed 2,000 UK adults, revealing the widespread feelings of discontent being experienced by the nation’s community of private company shareholders. It found: 

• 10% of UK shareholders said they have never been given the opportunity to discuss options regarding their shares since making their original investment
• A further 9% feel locked-in due to an inability to sell or trade the shares they own in a private company – equating to over 600,000 trapped and frustrated investors
• Post-Brexit sentiment towards stocks and shares is resoundingly positive – 23% of UK investors said they intend to invest in stocks and shares in 2017, trumping property (11%), bonds (7%) and commodities (7%)
• 27% of respondents – the equivalent of 1.8 million shareholders across the UK – do not know the current value of the shares they own
• More than a million shareholders (16%) would like to invest in other high-growth businesses but cannot because of an inability to sell their existing shares

15 February

New research from national audit, tax and advisory firm Crowe Clark Whitehill, together with the University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Counter Fraud Studies (CCFS), suggests that fraud is costing the UK £125 billion each year.

Download report here