Mark has over twenty years’ experience in Financial Services and prior to his current position at the EIS Association, he was Head of Research and Development at Mazars, a leading UK financial planning firm. Mark is highly qualified being a Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Financial Planner, Chartered Wealth Manager and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and previously sat on the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments Accredited firms committee and TISA’s Distribution Policy Council. Mark sits on various investment committees giving an independent view on pipeline investments.

Jasper is a partner at Ekins Guinness, a fund management and investment research firm. He has over 20 years experience in Investment Banking having established and managed JPMorgan’s Global Inflation trading business which assisted clients in hedging and managing liabilities. He was also a member of the Fixed Income Management Committee. Jasper read Engineering and Management Studies at St Catharine’s College Cambridge, and holds the Financial Times Non-Executive Director Diploma.

Walter is a director and one of the founding members of The Risk Advisory Group plc. His career was spent in the army, which he joined from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1961. He is a Transatlantic Board Member of British American Business Inc, a trustee of Shotover Estate, Director of Courage Underwriting Limited and a Director of Weee Systems Limited, He is an investor in upwards of 20 start up companies, chairing one of them and actively involved in others.

Ricardo brings more than 10 years of experience working on debt transactions for SMEs. He has worked and/or consulted for a wide range of institutions such as Exotix Capital, Latin American Agribusiness Development Corp. and Climate Policy Initiative. He obtained a MSc. Energy, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School and an Investment Management Certificate (IMC).

John specialises in equity investments and brings a wealth of experience in early stage venture capital built from his time at Midven. In addition to his VC background, John spent a number of years in the corporate finance team at KPMG.  John holds a BSc degree in Economics from Loughborough University and the CISI & ICAEW Diploma in Corporate Finance.

Sanjay has over 20 years of experience of providing equity and debt capital to SME’s, primarily through his time at 3i and RBS where he led a number of transactions and worked closely with management teams through to exit. He qualified as an accountant at Ernst & Young and has also worked at Walt Disney TV International. Sanjay read Law at Kings College London.

Jack specialises in debt and equity fundraising for high growth SME’s in the UK. As part of his role, Jack works with a mixture of HNWI’s, family offices and financial institutions. Jack holds a degree in BSc Economics from the University of Liverpool in addition to the Investment Advice Diploma.

Michael is an accomplished small cap private equity professional with 8 years’ experience within the tax efficient space. Michael works closely with High Net Worth individuals, Sophisticated investors, IFA’s and intermediary clients to help them invest in private companies.

Michael holds a BA (Hons) degree in leisure business and sports management from Cardiff University and is a member of the CISI.

Mercedes studied at the University of the West of England and has gained valuable experience across various sectors since leaving. Her roles at IW are to support the CEO, as well as ensuring the smooth and effective running of the office, as Office Manager.

Since graduating from Victoria University of Wellington, Jess has gained experience in financial services administration, project management and training. She assists the team and clients with all administrative aspects of the business.