Bruce Davis of online investment service Abundance
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What does your firm do?
Abundance is an online investment service that was created to allow people to put as little as £5 into investments that provide an attractive, steady return while helping the economy, the environment and society. So far, these investments have all been renewable energy projects, including wind turbines, solar farms, biomass projects and more. In time, Abundance will offer a wider range of projects including potentially new schools, social housing, medical centres and rural broadband networks.
What's been your greatest achievement so far?
Launching one of Britain's very first innovative finance Isas last year to turn investing in Isas into something that makes a difference in the real world. Investors' money works harder than it would in the bank, boosting the UK's green economy and sustainable infrastructure. More than £10m has been invested so far.
What have been your biggest challenges?
Finding a sufficient quantity of top-quality, well-run and robust projects to offer our investors with full confidence of success. We are painstaking in our due diligence and many potential projects will get turned down. This explains why no project has yet defaulted.
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We are just about to pass £40m of investments since we launched. With our new Isa product proving to be so popular, we should break the £60m mark this year. We are running a high-profile advertising campaign to optimise investment numbers during the traditional Isa season, but we intend to do more to make Isas a product for all year, not just the usual end-of-tax-year rush.
What advice would you give fellow entrepreneurs?
Be passionate about your vision and find others with the same values and excitement for what you are building. And if you are in finance, work willingly and openly with the regulators. Proper, effective regulation is a huge asset.
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