Compliance for EIS Advisors and Planners made easy by Industry Body
The Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA) representing the interests of advisors and funders involved in the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), and its early stage Seed Scheme (SEIS) has launched a platform guide to help advisors and funders ensure that they are fulfilling all their regulatory and compliance obligations when dealing with fund and portfolio managers.
“The Due Diligence requirements on advisors dealing with EIS investors are complex and onerous,” explains Mark Brownridge, Director General of the EISA, “ but they are rigorously enforced by regulators, and all advisors need to ensure that they have appropriate audit trails in place to demonstrate that they have made all the necessary enquiries.”
The template questionnaire launched by the EISA takes advisors and funders through all the questions that they must satisfy themselves on, saving time for both the portfolio managers and the advisors themselves, as well as removing much of the burden of compliance and establishing the necessary audit trail.
Mark Brownridge added, “The template should make advisers’ and planners’ lives easier as they have a ready made EIS and SEIS compliant Due Diligence Questionnaire to ensure they cover the all important compliance requirements. We have built it so that advisors can customise it for their own needs as well as providing proof of the diligence done for the audit trail.”
Advisor Ewoud Karelse from Tilney Financial Planning endorsed the value of the initiative. “The questionnaire is a great tool for any adviser or paraplanner researching EIS funds for their clients. Being able to compare topics such as investment strategy, performance, governance and fees consistently across different funds is a must.”