Strategy: To invest in a portfolio of unquoted media companies that will generate meaningful IP.
Issues
Time to invest: The target time to invest of 15 months is longer than for some other EIS funds.
The Investment Manager
Positives
Team: One of the longest standing managers in the VCT/EIS area, Calculus has a highly experienced and stable team.
Issues
Past performance: While Calculus has a substantial and credible record from investing in other sectors, this is a new area for the team. However, the addition of Stargrove brings sector experience.
Nuts & bolts
Offer period: Closing dates are quarterly on last Fridays of October, January, April and June.
Diversification: The aim is to invest in at least six companies.
Valuation: Investors will receive valuations twice a year. Industry guidelines will be used, with two auditors examining the figures.
Specific issues
Fees: Mixture of direct fees and charged via the investee companies.
Performance fee: 20% on gains over a hurdle rate of 1.2x total capital invested.
Risks
Risk mitigation: Although a new sector for the Manager, Calculus will use its established investment processes and has brought in a specialist advisor in Stargrove.
Target return: Overall, the strategy is medium-risk relative to other EIS/VCT products, with the target capital return of 2.0x towards the top end of what we’d expect for that risk category.
