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Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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UK RES Crowdfunding

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Content

Abundance

Research underpinning the Abundance model

Investor journey

Developer journey

Points for consideration

Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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Abundance Introduction

Launched in 2009, opened for business 2012

First regulated crowdfunding platform in the UK

Worlds first renewable energy crowdfunding

platform

Raised £90m for 34 projects via crowdfunding

Working on close to 1GW of shared ownership

projects in Scotland

Part of three EU projects considering implications

and roll out of RES crowdfunding across Europe

Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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Insight behind our approach

Started journey focused on connecting communities / individuals with local projects. Initial insight

derived from research, was that to mainstream community investment the following points had to be

delivered:

– Debt investing rather than equity

– Low minimum investments

– Strong regulatory foundation for the platform

– Investor control over the issuing company not a mainstream desire

– Long term investment and secondary market is important

Over time it was understood that to maximize engagement the investment needed to

– Sell both the social / environmental win alongside the investment win Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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INVESTOR JOURNEY

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Raising Awareness

Village hall meetings

Local advertising & PR

Local digital advertising

Local door drops

Use of any local assets

Pre Investment Pledge (25% of pledges come through)

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All advertising and

communications will be a

Financial Promotion and

therefore require regulatory

sign off

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Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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HOW IT WORKS FOR A DEVELOPER

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Considerations for a Developer

Documentation production:

– 3-6 months for first deal, quicker thereafter

Fundraising – what is the effort required?

Ongoing obligations:

– Interest payment

– Ongoing reporting

– Secondary trading

Minimum total raise amounts

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Policy Consideration

• Geographic limits to investing

• Flexibility for the developers – ability to select from a range of investment options. One size

never fits all

• Reputational risk for the sector:

• Ensure correct communication of the investment offer

• Risk within the investment – different structures will carry different risk

• Strength of the crowdfunding platform – financial, regulatory & operational

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Shared Ownership vs RES crowdfunding

Each model provides different outcomes

Challenges of UK Shared Ownership

– Is the Risk / Reward trade off attractive enough for communities?

Challenges of UK Crowdfunding

– Cost of making widely accessible

– Strength of the underlying platforms

Abundance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432)

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