As the UK government erodes or is accused of cutting tax breaks for higher earners’ pension savings pots, it has made other tax-advantaged products such as venture capital trusts and enterprise investment schemes more attractive.

As the UK government erodes or is accused of cutting tax breaks for higher earners’ pension savings pots, it has made other tax-advantaged products such as venture capital trusts and enterprise investment schemes more attractive by comparison, practitioners say.

An organisation well placed, it says, to take advantage of such changes is Octopus Investments, a 12-year-old company that started with three people and now has around 250 employees. It manages VCTs, EIS and inheritance tax relief-related investments for clients including high net worth individuals.

While some tax-advantaged investments are often low-risk, low-return in nature, Octopus has crafted a range of products designed to deliver strong returns for people willing to take a long-term view, Paul Latham, managing director, told this publication in a recent interview.

“What was clear when I joined [Octopus] was that there was demand from clients to access the tax reliefs that were available through our products but with a different set of risk profiles,” Latham said, speaking at his firm’s offices in Old Bailey near St Paul’s Cathedral, across the street from the famous courthouse that bears the same "Old Bailey" name. Latham joined Octopus eight years ago; the firm oversees about £3 billion ($4.67 billion) of client assets.