{"id":329995,"date":"2026-03-05T09:07:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T09:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/329995\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T09:07:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T09:07:06","slug":"brewdog-meltdown-has-lessons-for-mooted-irish-savings-and-investment-scheme-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/329995\/","title":{"rendered":"BrewDog meltdown has lessons for mooted Irish savings and investment scheme \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the mooted Government savings\/investment scheme that will, it is hoped, get people in Ireland to take some of the \u20ac170 billion they have on deposit paying next to nothing in interest and invest it in higher-risk but potentially higher-returning products.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Depending on how the scheme is structured, it may unlock more cash being put into vanilla stocks and shares, or perhaps more exotic products. It could also allow retail investors to get a stake in start ups or fast-growing small businesses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-it-article-body__interstitial-link\">[\u00a0<a aria-label=\"Open related story\" class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/your-money\/2026\/02\/16\/a-new-savings-scheme-for-irelands-middle-classes-heres-what-we-know-so-far\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">A new savings scheme for Ireland\u2019s \u2018middle classes\u2019: Here\u2019s what we know so farOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">There are pitfalls though, none more so than what has been highlighted by the sale this week of UK beer company BrewDog. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">For years, BrewDog was the hip upstart disrupting the staid world of beer. It built up a big following and was very much the cool kid in the sector.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Given that, it was no surprise that many people put money into the company under its \u201cEquity for Punks\u201d scheme. All told, they invested an estimated \u00a375 million between them from 2009 to 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Alas, the company later hit the skids and a US firm has bought the business at a knock-down price. The Equity Punks have been wiped out. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">According to investor service Wealth Club, the Equity Punks did not have access to UK tax incentives that were available to other investors, including venture capitalists. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cSuch tax reliefs are aimed at compensating experienced investors for the risk they take in investing in small, high-growth companies,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cMany fledgling companies will struggle, and by investing in a fund which backs numerous ventures, the risk is spread, given the likelihood that there will be some successes in the pack,\u201d Wealth Club added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">There are lessons for Simon Harris on whatever form the mooted savings scheme here ultimately takes. If the Government wants to encourage people to put their hard-earned savings into investments that could go belly up, they need to be clearly informed of that risk. They also should have the same access to wider tax incentives that bigger investors can get their hands on. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">If mom and pop investors, as they are referred to in the US, are to swim with sharks, they need to understand the risks and have access to some sort of life raft. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the mooted Government savings\/investment scheme that will,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[152311,72,6572,61,60,70],"class_list":["post-329995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-brewdog","tag-business","tag-cantillon","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-simon-harris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}