Risk Warning & Compliance

 

IMPORTANT RISK AND COMMITMENT INFORMATION

YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK. Investors and lenders should be aware that there are risks to all forms of investing and corporate lending, including bonds, loan notes and debentures, and you may be unable to recover your loan or investment should something go wrong. Potential investors and lenders should always read all of the available Financial Promotions on any lending or equity investment opportunity in their entirety, with particular attention to the “Risk Factor” sections, before deciding to lend or invest. These investments are NOT covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and you may not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). If you are in any doubt about the action you should take or the contents of any of the Financial Promotion received, you should contact your stockbroker, solicitor, accountant, bank manager or other professional adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, who specialises in advising on bonds, shares and other securities, including unlisted securities.

Investing in start-up and growth companies involves a high degree of risk. You could lose some or all of the money you invest and you must be prepared to accept that risk.

It is significantly more likely that you could lose your invested capital in any one company than make a profit from it. These investments can be subject to sudden and large falls in value dependant upon the performance of the underlying company. The risk/reward ratio of investing in very small companies and start-ups is increased as the risk of failure is higher. Do not invest unless you have judiciously thought about whether you can afford to lose the money lent or invested, and whether it is right for you. A more diversified portfolio can, to some extent mitigate the risk of losing some or all of your money.

GENERAL

All lending and equity investment opportunities featured on the Clarion’s website are higher-risk and must be considered to be long-term investments. Although the minimum investment terms are 5 years for VCTs, 3 years for EIS and SEIS investments and 2 years for IHT portfolios to retain some of the tax reliefs, these should be considered much longer-term investments.

Clarion Introducers Ltd offers a non-advisory service to Self-Certified Sophisticated Investors and High Net Worth Investors. Clarion does NOT give advice or personal recommendations.

Mini-bonds, complex instruments, VCT EIS, SEIS and IHT portfolios (and any such related and/or future product types) are not suitable for all investors. If you have any doubts as to the suitability of a particular investment or lending opportunity, or its class in general, or require advice of any kind, we recommend that you obtain specialist financial and taxation advice from a professional adviser.

Please refer to the risk warnings and other information contained within the Prospectus, Information Memorandum or other offer document for the investment opportunity that you have chosen, together with Clarion Introducers Ltd’s Terms of Business.

As minority shareholders in the invested companies you will normally not have any influence over the company’s activities with regard to strategic decisions. In some instances, VCTs do have a member on the investee company board but this should not be relied on in every case. An unchecked change in activities by the investee company could result in the loss of tax relief qualifying status Clarion will endeavour to ensure that this does not happen and if there is to be a significant change we will aim to notify you.

Make sure you understand all the risks and benefits before investing. You should not invest more money than you can afford to lose without altering your standard of living.

DIVERSIFICATION OF YOUR INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

Diversification is an essential part of investing. By spreading your money across multiple investments you can reduce overall risk to a certain degree.

If possible, you should invest relatively small amounts in a range of investment opportunities rather than concentrating your investment in a small number of investment or lending opportunities or companies. By building a diversified portfolio you spread risk and increase the chance of an overall return on your investments.

You should invest only a limited proportion of your available investment funds in start-up and growth-stage companies and should balance these investments with relatively safer, more liquid investments with a more predictable return.

SPECIFIC ADMINISTRATIVE RISKS

If a VCT, EIS or SEIS does not reach its minimum investment level, it may not go ahead and your application will be returned. This could pose potential tax planning issues near the end of Tax Years.

The underlying companies invested in may lose their qualifying status if they do not comply with specific HMRC requirements throughout the relevant period. Additionally, where appropriate, tax relief could be delayed or denied.

There is no guarantee that HMRC will grant qualifying Business Property Relief (BPR) on each IHT investment, loss or non-granting of IHT Company status for BPR is an underlying risk.

INVESTMENT RISK

Past performance is not and never should be used as a guide to future performance and there is a risk to the capital invested.

The value of investments and the income from them can fluctuate and may fall and there is no certainty an investor will get back any part of their investment.

Investments in smaller companies will generally not be publicly traded or freely marketable (AIM status notwithstanding). There will most likely be a big difference between buying and selling price. The price could be subject to rapid fluctuations in value.

The ability to sell shares or other securities will depend on there being a willing buyer for such shares at an acceptable price. Consequently, it might be difficult to realise these investments.

In the event that a company becomes unable to meet its debts as they fall due, investors may realise less than their original investment.

GUIDANCE ON “HIGH RETURN INVESTMENTS”

In January of 2020 the Financial Conduct Authority released a published statement for prospective investors considering what is termed as “High Return Investments”. Investments within this category may include but are not limited to investment in SME businesses, either by way of debt or equity investment or investment in alternative assets and currencies.

We at Clarion very much appreciate and echo their guidance to anyone considering investments of this nature.

For a link to the full statement and further information visit: clarion-invest.com/fca-advice.

TAXATION

Many investment and lending opportunities featured on the Clarion Introducers Ltd’s website are subject to special tax considerations. Please refer to the individual prospectus or other offer documents for specific taxation aspects of the chosen investment and lending opportunity.

You should note all illustrations will be based on assumed rates of tax applying at that date. Taxation types, levels and bases can change.

The tax treatment and eligibility for the tax reliefs of all investment and lending opportunities featured on the Clarion Introducers Ltd website depends upon the individual circumstances of each investor.

Income Tax relief cannot exceed your Income Tax liability.

Tax reliefs are not guaranteed, depend on the entities invested in maintaining their qualifying status, and may be withdrawn at any time by HM Revenue and Customs.

On IHT portfolios, although investment providers operate the schemes with the intention that investors will qualify for IHT relief after holding the underlying shares for a two-year period, there is no guarantee that this will be achieved or maintained.

Tax relief already given may have to be repaid should the investment not comply with the relevant regulations during the relevant period e.g. is not held for the minimum qualifying period.

Changes in tax or other government legislation could adversely affect the value of the VCT, EIS, SEIS or IHT portfolio. Other investment and lending opportunity types could become more tax efficient during the lifetime of your investment.

Past UK Government Budgets have changed company size and type criteria for meeting VCT, EIS and SEIS investment eligibility requirements. Investors should be aware such amendments may alter the underlying risk profile of current offers relative to previous years’ offers in which they invested.

We reiterate that if you are in any doubt about any tax aspect of your potential investment, you should consider obtaining specialist advice.

SELLING OR TRANSFERRING INVESTMENTS

Investment and lending opportunities promoted by Clarion Introducers Ltd are illiquid. The secondary market can be restricted and performance information that affects price is less readily available. Consequently, these investments may be extremely difficult to realise at fair or market value, meaning that you may have difficulty in obtaining a satisfactory sale price, if at all.

Certain VCT investment and lending opportunities may have buy-back policies in place. Any such buy-back policies are subject to liquidity and historically the directors of some VCTs have withdrawn buy back policies or changed the level of the discount at which purchases have been made.

Shares in VCTs typically trade at a discount to Net Asset Value (NAV). As the VCT distributes its realised capital gains the NAV, even when the VCT is successful, tends to decline to reflect the distribution during its lifetime. This affects pricing.

There is currently no effective secondary market for VCT shares, primarily because the initial income tax relief is only available to those subscribing for newly issued shares. This compounds the difficulties shareholders may encounter when attempting to sell VCT shares.

EIS and SEIS shares are typically unquoted securities often issued by private companies. Restrictions may apply to the transfer of these private company securities. It is likely that market makers will not be able or willing to deal in these securities.