b'Our business modelRealising value for ambitious companies 01Key strengthsand differentiatorsRegional focusLondon and the South East have a significant oversupply of capital creating high pre-money valuations. The UK regions offer exciting deals Complete with businesses that are priced sensibly and have relatively modest capital needs that we can, if we choose to, support solely from our Connectedown means.Experienced team Capital We further strengthened our model of combining business expertise with geographic and investment knowledge with the addition of the VCT investment team. We have increased investment capacity across our regional offices to 64 investment specialists.Mercia Platform Seeking to strengthen portfolio performanceto drive returns, Mercias Platform provides access to high-quality business leaders,advisory teams and operational specialists to offer relevant support and enable the development of our portfolios leadership teams.Capital resourceOur approach to investing has evolvedMercia has c.800million in AuM (c.142million of net assets and c.658million in FuM) of which over many years and is predicated on there is 30.2million in unrestricted free cash to the cyclical nature of private capitalinvest over the next two to five years.deployment in the regions, whereEstablished partnershipsPowerful relationships and deeply embedded optimised returns are driven throughecosystems provide unparalleled access to a deep industry experience and buying wellwealth of opportunities across the regions. From our 19 university partnerships to our through the cycle. non-executive networks, we are well placedas the investment partner of choice.12 Mercia Asset Management PLCAnnual Report and Accounts 2020'