Investors have another chance to put their money into the latest venture from superstar fund manager Nicola Horlick, with her specialist fund management company Glentham Capital looking to raise £450,000 on crowd-funding platform Seedrs.
You may have to move quickly though. When Horlick opened up the firm to funding through Seedrs for the first time last July, it hit its target of £150,000 inside 24 hours. While there's still 52 days to go on this one, at the time of writing it is already at 10% of its target.
Who is Nicola Horlick?
Nicola Horlick was once dubbed Superwoman by the tabloids as she juggled her home life as a mother of six with her career as a prominent investment banker. She was head of Morgan Grenfell Asset Management's UK investment business from 1992 to 1997, before going on to start two fund managers from scratch: SG Asset Management in 1997 and Bramdean Asset Management in 2005.
She is now branching out with Glentham Capital, a fund management firm which will be launching a series of specialist investment funds. The first is Glentham Film, looking at providing production finance for feature films. The firm is also looking at other funds, including one covering lending to SMEs and one which invests in the music rights for film scores.
A second stab at Seedrs
To help get Glentham off the ground, the firm sold 10% of its equity (company shares) for £150,000 in July last year, via leading crowd-funding platform Seedrs. This crowd-funding was complete in a mere 22 hours.
Since this initial capital raise a year ago, Glentham Capital’s film-financing fund has secured a $20 million (£11.7 million) anchor investment in the fund itself from a US-based investor. It also attracted high levels of interest from both American and Chinese investors.
Since that original fund-raiser, Glentham's value has grown by 20% to £1.8 million. And with ambitious plans to grow the business, Glentham has returned to Seedrs, offering the investment crowd a second bite at the company's shares.
[SPOTLIGHT]Glentham's second-round of equity-raising starts today (Monday 14th July). Also today, the firm's management team (including Horlick) will hold an open-to-all conference call to take questions from would-be investors, which you can follow on Seedrs.
In round two, Glentham plans to sell 20% of its shares for £450,000, valuing the group at £2.25 million. These shares are eligible for inclusion in the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), which provides generous tax breaks for investers.
The shares will be sold via Seedrs on a 'first come, first served' basis, with none of the over-funding often seen in successful Seedrs fund-raisings. In other words, when Glentham shares are gone, they are gone, so investors will need to get online fast to get aboard.
As for the business itself, Glentham Capital makes its money from the '2+20' fund fees it charges. Under this deal, the fund manager charges the film fund an annual management fee of 2%, plus a 'carry' of 20% of the returns generated by the fund's Hollywood investments. This 2+20 deal is a standard arrangement used by the majority of hedge funds and alternative-investment managers.
So if Glentham Capital's film fund helps to bankroll a few big-screen blockbusters, then investors in the firm share in any bumper returns generated by the fund.
As for Seedrs, the platform makes its money from two simple charges. The first is a fee of 7.5% of any amount actually raised by start-ups through its platform. This fee is deducted from the funds raised before the balance is passed onto Horlick's firm. If Glentham fails to hit its £450,000 target, then everyone walks away and no-one pays any fees.
Seedrs' second charge is a 7.5% levy on any returns that investors receive above their original investment (whether through the proceeds of a sale, cash dividends or other payments from Glentham to its shareholders). Any returns paid to investors up to the amount of their original investments are free of charge.
Is Glentham Capital for you?
Looking at this latest crowd-funding exercise conducted via Seedrs, there's plenty to be excited about.
First, you have an investment company run by a star manager with over 30 years of experience in the City. Second, by investing in Glentham, you help the group to grow and fund future Hollywood flicks.
Third, unlike major initial public offerings (IPOs) sponsored by investment banks, you don't need a fortune to climb aboard - indeed some have invested with as little as £12 already. Fourth, you're investing in an early-stage business, so the sky's the limit if Glentham shoots out the lights.
What do you think? Will you be investing in Glentham? Have you backed any start-ups through Seedrs or other similar sites?
More on investing:
Seedrs offers first crowdfunding convertible equity stake in start-up
Crowdfunding: how to invest in start-ups with as little as £10
The Year of the IPO: the new share winners and losers
Beginner's guide to investment platforms