The AIC's December edition of Compass looks at the election result, how the UK is the one to watch in 2020 and which investment company sectors were the stars of 2019.

Kevin Monserrat of Consilience Ventures takes a critical look at the traditonal investment model.

Robert Crowter-Jones, Head of Private Equity at Saranac Partners gives his market update and 2020 predictions.

Sukhendu Pal looks at the motivations of joining a start up and considers how you can assess if you are the right 'fit' to work with a business in its earliest stages.

The most important question you need to ask yourself when joining a start-up is why. Some people do it because they hate their current jobs. Some people do it because they want to get rich. Others do it because it’s the cool thing to do. Ultimately, when you are looking to join a start-up you need to understand the real motivational factors behind your search, because if your reasons do not align with the opportunity, it is likely you will be neither happy nor successful.

Over the past three decades, Sukhendu has worked for couple of iconic start-ups, founded a successful start-up, and invested in more than a dozen start-ups in a personal capacity, and nearly a hundred start-ups in a professional capacity. Here he provides a practical guide that people wishing to join a start-up should consider when looking for the next could-be big thing.

The Senior Managers & Certification Regime that has just come into effect is a positive step for the financial services industry – but its failure to include Appointed Representative Firms (ARFs) and their individuals is an oversight, according to Sturgeon Ventures, the regulatory incubator.

As we enter the final week of political campaigning for the upcoming general election, we could potentially enter the new decade with a new government. 

With all the uncertainty around Brexit, and the General Election, business leaders can be forgiven for wanting to hang up their gloves and taking December off.

However, as we know, that is unfortunately not possible and while certain sectors might slow down as the holiday period approaches others particularly in the hospitality, food, drinks and gifts sector are ramping up to contend with the seasonal rush.

Since they were launched in 1994, individual investors have ploughed an incredible £8.48 billion into VCTs, which have backed numerous companies that are now household names, including Zoopla, Secret Escapes, Monica Vinader, Everyman Cinemas, and Five Guys to name just a few.

As Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) celebrate the 25^th anniversary of their announcement later this week, Alex Davies, CEO at Wealth Club examines the figures and assesses whether they have proved their worth.

James Murdoch looks into his own portfolio and ponders the falling number of SEIS opportortunites compared to EIS investments. 

Following the release of the latest Atomico report looking at The State of European Tech, Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates, comments:

My first six articles looked at my experience of investing in individual companies; one of the conclusions I had come to was that, at least for the passive investor, the right strategy is to diversify the portfolio but that managing too many start-up investments can be onerous. Investing in a fund campaign allows you to invest in multiple businesses with one click of a button. Problem solved?

Sukhendu Pal has worked with some of the iconic leaders of our generation.  In this interview he talks about the unique qualities of these legendary leaders.

What do Larry Ellison, Sandy Weill, Steve Jobs, Ralph Lauren, Indra Nooyi, Marc Benioff and Satya Nadella have in common? All of them are known for being extremely talented and successful in their respective fields. All have reputations as innovators, who pioneered new business models, products or services that created billions of dollars in value. However, how do you measure these leaders’ impact? We met up with Sukhendu, who has worked with some of these amazing leaders for his view from the close quarters, and this is what we discovered.