Is Investing in SEIS ventures risky? – Join the o2h Chaitime Webinar - o2h Ventures

May 10 2023

We are thrilled to be back with another season of our most celebrated series, the o2h Chaitime webinars, on 12th May 2023, Friday at 12:00 pm GMT.

Given the recent changes in SEIS legislation, there is a renewed interest in investing in SEIS-eligible businesses. However, in these investments, you are the first to put money in, how risky is this? We are thrilled to bring back our o2h ChaiTime series to discuss the risks of investing in these types of businesses and mitigation strategies through a discussion with a panel of SEIS fund managers and SEIS-backed CEOs.

We bring you varied perspectives of SEIS from both ends with a great panel that includes SEIS Fund Manager Fred Soneya who is Co-founder and Partner @ Haatch, Alice MacGowan who is Non-executive Director @ Alevin Therapeutics, Thelma Zablocki, Co-founder and COO @ CardiaTec and Dom Raban, CEO @ Xploro.

Click Here to Register – bit.ly/3Ay9gTJ

Hosted by: Sunil Shah, CEO @ o2h Ventures

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Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk

What are the key risks?

• If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invest. Most start-up businesses fail.

2 – You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong

• Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here. (https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/investment-protection-checker)

• Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here. (https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers)

3 – You won’t get your money back quickly

• Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.

• The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.

• If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.

4 – Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

• Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.

• A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments (https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/5-questions-ask-you-invest)

5 – The value of your investment can be reduced

• The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.

• These new shares could have addition rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here (https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart)