A roundup of fund managers' thoughts on yesterday's budget.

The age-old investment debate about ‘cheap’ value stocks versus ‘expensive’ growth stocks shows no sign of going away. 

James Murdoch talks us through the ups and downs of the annual 'Spring Clean' of his investment portfolio.

Catherine Ramsay from Gannons Solicitors looks at the options around offering shares as an incentive to attract employees and grow your business, even when cash is tight. 

Yesterday the team behind the Funding Index agreed a go live, so you can now see one reason why I have been rather quiet in recent months! (There are a few more, … but that is for another day).

You can check it out at www.funding-index.com. The idea is simple; we the UK - from the Prime Minister to the entrepreneur about to start their first business - should understand just how much capital entrepreneurs need to make their businesses a success.  The Index is an entrepreneur-led data bank of companies that need equity, grant and debt funding.  We have been told there could be as much as £10bn of demand for equity alone each year (and that’s prior to the Pandemic).  The CBILs and BBILs volumes are testament to the level of debt demand – I believe is around £70bn.  Our view is that if we have transparency on where the demand is (by sector, geography, type etc) everyone from HM Government to upstart FinTechs will be able to better set strategy and help entrepreneurs, their businesses and the people who they employ, get the right funding at the right time.

Catherine Ramsay from Gannons Solicitors looks at the options around offering shares as an incentive to attract employees and grow your business, even when cash is tight. 

Despite the economic turmoil, one sector has seemed immune to COVID concerns and continued to deliver remarkable gains. 

The boardroom gender gap is finally beginning to narrow, but women entrepreneurs still have a chasm to cross to catch up with their male peers. Changing that will not only massively improve equality, but will also hugely improve the economy, says David Newns a serial disruptive entrepreneur and investor.

For investors, it’s an incredibly unsettling time. Uncertainty continues to sweep the stock market and it’s anyone’s guess just how far the economic impact of coronavirus will spread. 

Some sectors have been sucker-punched by the crisis, such as airlines, leisure and travel. In a few cases, companies are facing a battle for survival. 

When it comes to managing a portfolio of shares, the majority hand the hard work to a fund manager, believing that the costs of trading and rebalancing portfolios are too much for an individual investor to bear. 

However, you can beat the City with a little know how. 

Ben Hobson, Markets Editor at Stockopedia explains why now might be the perfect time to break free and run your own investment portfolio.

Nick Lyth is Founder and Director of Green Angel Syndicate, the only angel investment syndicate in the UK specialising in the fight against Climate Change and Global Warming. 

In an unprecedented crisis never apparently experienced before, as Climate Change, is it possible to learn lessons from history?

We are considering Climate Change with no sense of previous experience to guide us. There is an explicit demonstration of this in all the language used. "Never before", "existential", "extinction" are all words appearing in accounts of the problem. The scale of the challenge is considered to be unique.

Catherine Gannon of Gannons Solicitors looks at how to ensure a smooth relationship between investors and entrepreneurs.

As lawyers we get the task of creating the structure and putting into words the ‘commercials’ of an investment. There are two sides. The Founders will be concerned with the company valuation, how much money they need and how much equity/control they are willing/able give up. The Angel will be concerned with ensuring that the business is a good investment and putting in place measures to protect their investment.

Investors are looking for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs are looking for investors, but it is not just a case of putting the two parties together.  The fit needs to be right and the relationship needs to last – and be a positive experience for both sides.