Now the successful Basics series is complete, we return to normal programming with our usual year-end panel. An all-star group of experts get together to discuss what happened in EIS and VCTs in 2025 and the prospects for 2026. This year, Philip Hare, Partner at Philip Hare & Associates, Kealan Doyle, CEO & Director of Symvan Capital, and Ewoud Karelse, Specialist-Product at Evelyn Partners, bring their knowledge and insight.
In a wide-ranging discussion we talk about:
A lot happened in 2025, so listen and find out what it all means for investors and advisers.
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Visit the EIS Assocation website here.
Visit the Symvan Capital website here.
Visit the Evelyn Partners website here.
Visit the Philip Hare & Associates website here.
Kealan Doyle is the CEO and co-founder of Symvan Capital. He has worked with venture capital companies for 15 years, both in a corporate finance advisory capacity as well as a fund manager. He prefers to invest in a wide range of technology companies, but is also very interested in finding synergies within the Symvan portfolio of companies. Company interests include big data analytics, fintech, SaaS, 3D printing and network security. Before his involvement in venture capital investing, Kealan previously lead a structured equity products team at HSBC, and has worked at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Together with Nicholas, he has since founded his own entrepreneurial businesses to focus on VC investing. Kealan holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto.
Philip Hare is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser. He spent 25 years with PwC, fifteen as a senior tax manager. From 2006 to 2014, he led PwC’s team providing services to Venture Capital Trusts, Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme companies, investment fund managers and investors. Philip is a board member of the EIS Association (EISA) and chairs the EISA Tax Committee. He is a member of the VCT Forum of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) and our firm advises the VCT Association.
Ewoud Karelse started his career in financial services with Allenbridge in 2000 and joined Towry Law in 2008 before joining Tilney in 2016, and Evelyn Partners in 2022. Ewoud is responsible for the research and selection of Venture Capital Trusts; (Seed) Enterprise Investment Schemes; Business Relief for Inheritance Tax Planning (AIM and non-AIM), and Social Investment Tax Relief products. He is also well versed in the use of Business Investment Relief for International clients.
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
