What We Do
We offer private equity investment opportunities with substantial tax advantages from the most experienced, award-winning, Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) Fund Manager.
Calculus EIS
Find out about Calculus VCT
Seeking investment from Calculus?
Why Calculus Capital?
Calculus are pioneers of the EIS industry, having launched the UK’s first approved EIS Fund in 1999. Our focus has remained consistent: building diversified portfolios of smaller, UK growth businesses and creating value for our investors through our multi-award winning funds.
Our diligent process, record of profitable exits and focus on capital appreciation distinguishes us from other EIS and VCT fund managers. The Calculus investment strategy has remained consistent for the past 10+ years, together with our structured investment process, strong risk management and very close monitoring of portfolio companies. We have been able to produce significant results for our clients via tax free dividends for our VCT investors, or tax free capital gains for our EIS investors.
Our Deputy CEO and Head of Portfolio Management Robert Davis explains the five stages of building an EIS portfolio.
We are incredibly proud of our results – our performance enables tax free dividends for our VCT and tax free distributions for our EIS Funds. Some examples of recent Exits are below – our figures do not include tax reliefs:
- Scancell (April 2014) 8.2x
- Waterfall (December 2014) 5.3x
- Horizon (September 2015 & August 2016) 1.82x
- Metropolitan Safe Custody (September 2016) 1.81x
To view more examples of our exits click here.
Evidence of the Fund’s successful approach is also demonstrated by our loyal investor base, many of our clients have invested in multiple Calculus Capital EIS Funds as well as our VCT. A large number of our investors are experienced fund managers and investment professionals who have discovered us through recommendations within the industry.
We are sector diverse, our focus is to find and back great management teams working in entrepreneurial companies successfully selling real products and services. These companies will then form part of our VCT and EIS Funds.
We offer capital appreciation with managed risk:
- Sector diversified portfolio of 8-10 companies for our EIS Fund, around 20 for our VCT
- Targeting entrepreneurial companies with proven management teams
- Target IRR of 20%
- Typical investment size £2-5 million
- Failure rates are typically lower and time to exit is shorter than for start-up investments
- Typically hold investments for a period of 4-5 years on average
We benefit from privileged sources of deal flow – a substantial number of investment opportunities come from management teams that we have successfully backed in the past, other sources include our investor base and industry relationships.
For more information about the EIS Fund click here or for the Calculus VCT click here.
Our long track record of successful exits is down to our talented investment team and the thorough and robust processes they follow.
- We execute in depth due diligence of investment opportunities using our experienced investment team and external parties, this process normal takes 4 – 7 months
- Our ‘hands on’ approach after investment means we constantly monitor performance and effect change when needed, we usually have a member of the team on the board
- Our talented investment team has experience in a diverse range of sectors. The core team has been together for over 10 years and we have since attracted significant talent from top institutions
- We always consider exit strategies before we make an investment and our detailed investment agreements are often written with this in mind
From the moment we invest in a company, a partnership is formed. We help our investee companies create value by actively supporting the business, sharing our market knowledge and connections and using our long standing experience of growing small UK companies.
We also run a series of ‘toolkit’ seminars including CEO forums and CFO workshops, where our portfolio companies can meet their peers, exchange ideas and hear from a leading industry expert. Often, the issues facing small businesses are similar regardless of sector. An upcoming forum is focused on ‘building a brand’, recent topics included ‘scaling up’ and ‘how to build a leading sales team’.
We run ‘Meet the CEO’ events throughout the year at our offices, which are a chance to meet with the Calculus Capital investment team and hear from one of our portfolio company CEOs. Investors and advisers are welcome to attend, if you would like to reserve a place at the next event, or would like more information, please email [email protected]
Our History
Calculus Capital was founded in 1999 by John Glencross and Susan McDonald, following careers at senior levels in leading investment banks. They saw an opportunity to create an EIS Fund which would deliver the benefits of EIS investing, whilst providing stronger risk mitigation than investing in single EIS Qualifying Companies. With the co-operation of the The Inland Revenue (now HMRC) and working within existing legislation, Calculus created the UK’s first approved EIS Fund in 1999/2000 tailored to the needs of private investors. Since then, Calculus have gone on to launch 18 EIS Funds and a further 2 VCTs.
Both the Calculus EIS Fund and Calculus VCT provide investors with the opportunity to benefit from many years of invaluable experience. The core team has been together over 10 years and our track record of excellent results has enabled us to attract top talent to this team from distinguished firms such as Deutsche Bank, Flemings, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Apollo.
We have built and retained a strong reputation as an expert investor in EIS and VCT Qualifying Companies through our multi award winning funds. The professionalism of our investment process, track record of profitable exits and focus on capital appreciation combined with strong risk management, distinguishes us from other managers.
Calculus Capital is viewed as the industry standard within the tax efficient investing world, our team is often engaged in discussions with industry and governmental representatives. Our EIS and VCT Funds embody the spirit of professional SME investing and have gained much respect and support from investors, advisers, governments and our peers.
Corporate Governance
Calculus Capital Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA registration number 190854) is committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance.
Calculus Capital has a board of five members with diverse experience and backgrounds:
John Glencross – Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder
Susan McDonald – Chairman & Co-founder
Robert Davis – Deputy CEO and Head of Portfolio Management
Lesley Watkins – Finance Director
Ken Edwards – Non-Executive Director
The Directors meet quarterly and on an ad hoc basis as required.
The Board has established an Audit Risk and Compliance Committee which plays an important role in the appraisal and supervision of key aspects of the Company’s business including financial reporting and internal controls.
The Directors have also established an Investment Committee whose responsibilities include determining and agreeing with the board the Company’s framework or broad policy for fund investment and considering all investment and divestment proposals.
The Company takes into account the requirements of the Stewardship Code and also has in place internal policies and guidelines on a variety of matters including financial reporting, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and corruption, conflicts of interest, and promoting sustainable practices within the firm.
Calculus Capital Limited is a member of the EISA and the BVCA.
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