Wellington
Angel Association chairman Phil McCaw's got a big year in front of him - and echoing hisdaughter's misheard words, has made some late New Year's revolutions.
His wide-ranging thoughts are available
"I truly believe it to be a game changer," McCaw says. "There are some significant world leaderslooking to invest in New Zealand and their real value will be in their ability to accelerate thecompanies they invest in, into their local markets."
McCaw gives the example of Peter Thiel, the Paypal founder and recent investor in Xero andPacific Fibre.
He's also out to fix the 'equity chasm' - something that's REALLY IMPORTANT (hiscapitals, but sticK couldn’t' agree more). McCaw's upfront too that his investment vehicle Movacis currently raising a new growth fund, so has a direct exposure and interest in these issues.
However, given the paucity and shallowness of those New Zealand vehicles capable or interested ininvesting in good ideas, that's the least of the country's worries.
McCaw wants to see some more success stories like Trade Me, Hyperfactory, 42 Below, IceBreaker,and Phil & Teds. This will encourage capital flows into the equity sector.
Without going into the depths of how the NZ Venture Investment Fund operates, McCaw is keen tosee it morph from essentially a $2 private money matched by $1 public money (via NZVIF) to a $1:$1ratio.
"The problem is that we have a very, very limited pool of private and institutional money in NewZealand and a poor overall story to tell about venture returns," he says. "We're stuck in a perfectstorm and need this sort of bridge."
He wants to confirm the tax free status of capital gains, as the current rules are vague andsubject to interpretation, and to also enable tax deductibility on 'early stage investments.
His thought piece says that the government should require institutional funds like ACC and NZSuper to allocate capital to the growth economy.
"I cringe as a write this, as any investment should ride or fall on the results it delivers," hesays. "The reality is, however, that the sector is immature in New Zealand and requires a long termcommitment to the development of capability. These institutions have significant experience in theselection and oversight of fund managers and can bring capital, process and experience to thetable."
McCaw's also worried that increased securities regulation will make brokers and advisers evenmore conservative (i.e. not look at early-stage high risk class of investments), and that Kiwi SaverFund Managers should be encouraged to allocate capital to this class.
Finally, he wants more people with money to become part of Angel investment groups. While there'snothing wrong with high net worth individuals investing on a case by case basis, "the challenge withthis approach is it doesn't scale and doesn't build investment capability for New Zealand," he says.
"In my view we need to have a quid both ways to manage risk."
In actuality, McCaw's daughter's right - this would be a New Year revolution.
All power to him, his team and wider networks. Check out the original article,