As the voice of private capital in Australia, we create a prominent, single voice for our industry and advocate on behalf of our members. We effectively collaborate with government to shape policies that boost investment in Australian businesses and engage with media and key stakeholders to tell the story of private capital. Here are some of our achievements over the past year.

2018/19 achievements

• Being heard on important policy issues
  
• A new brand, a stronger voice
• Connecting and collaborating at 2019 events
• Further embedding our code of conduct
• One community, connecting with purpose
• Celebrating success
• Quality insights
• Continuing the conversation with government
• Driving diversity through change

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Being heard on important policy issues

 As a result of the Australian Investment Council’s advocacy efforts, a number of favourable policy outcomes have been achieved for the private capital industry in the past year, including:

• R&D Tax Incentive – we have consulted with various stakeholders on the important role of the R&D tax scheme for early stage startups and will continue to do so with the incoming government
• National Innovation & Science Agenda – our evidence presented before the House of Representatives Economics Committee led to the committee recommending that the Australian Government consider recommitting to the National Innovation & Science Agenda and making provisions in the Federal Budget for the funding of these initiatives for another four years.
• In May this year, we released our policy blueprint ‘Investing for Growth – Policy Proposals for the Incoming Federal Government’ putting forward a set of recommendations that would encourage greater capital investment into Australian businesses through private capital.
• ASIC RG 97 – continued to drive the industry’s response to ASIC’s super fund fee and cost disclosure framework.

A new brand, a stronger voice

Following our successful rebrand to the Australian Investment Council we have engaged with media to improve awareness and understanding of the private capital sector through case studies, campaigns and industry research including commentary on broader business issues such as tax, foreign investment and innovation.

The Investing for Growth case study series is an opportunity for the broader business community to understand what our industry does and the value it brings to businesses. The campaign also highlights the importance of diversity within investment teams and will profile some of the industry’s current and future female leaders.

Connecting and collaborating at 2019 events

A highlight on the industry calendar is the annual gala dinner which provides a relaxed environment for informal networking with leaders from private capital firms, business leaders and supporting advisory firms.

This year’s Venture Capital Industry Forum was a great success, further cementing itself as a highlight for anyone working in Australian innovation ecosystem bringing together over 100 fund managers, investors, entrepreneurs and corporate advisors. 

Further embedding our  code of conduct

The industry Code of Conduct and annual declaration play a central role in ensuring we maintain a strong self-regulatory framework around the integrity of our industry. Once again we will be asking all member GP firms to declare their compliance with the code in 2019/2020.

One community, connecting with purpose

New networking opportunities and an impressive line-up of speakers, including global industry leaders, will deliver a bigger, bolder conference in 2019 bringing our community together for the largest event of its kind in Australia.

Later in the year we look forward to launching a brand new suite of professional development programs to help build and share knowledge among our community. The first element of the newly created program – a foundations of private capital investment module – will bring together the best of our PE and VC 101 events with added depth by aligning with one of Australia’s leading Universities, the Macquarie Business School.

Quality insights

In collaboration with leading market intelligence provider Preqin, we have access to the latest industry data from more than 90 countries around the world. This data is used to develop insights for a range of periodic reports including the annual Yearbook – our most referenced report. Members can also access quarterly benchmarking reports by Cambridge Associates which contain a performance analysis of private equity and venture capital funds in generating returns from their investment activities against other comparable investment strategies.

This year will see a refreshed set of award categories to better represent the breadth of our industry’s work. The Australian Investment Council Awards acknowledge the people and firms that demonstrate excellence in leadership, investment acumen, diversity and the broader contribution they make to our community through their investment activities.

The election of a new government presents an opportunity to re-engage on the issue which affect your business and further educate representatives on the important role private capital plays through its solid contribution to the economy. We will continue to talk to the right stakeholders within government on R&D, tax, superannuation and innovation and share those outcomes with members regularly through our Government & Regulatory Updates.

Driving diversity through change

This year, we are strengthening our commitment to greater diversity within the private capital industry through a new Champions of Change Program. Increasing gender diversity within private capital is one of our top priorities as an industry and this new program will help us to accelerate the pace of change. Our diversity mentoring program, case study series and the publication of our diversity report will continue to build momentum this year and beyond. 

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