Choice Blog - The Secret Investor's Diary

Peer-to-peer lending with The Secret Investor

Secret Investor: The Major P2P Platforms Still Don't Offer ISAs

Last post: Jan 26, 2017

Frustratingly for lenders, as we approach the end of another tax year, the major P2P platforms are still unable to offer ISAs… Funding Circle secure a further £80 million of venture capital as their UK operations record a profit in the final quarter of 2016.

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Secret Investor: ThinCats predict P2P interest rates and defaults will reduce in 2017

Last post: Jan 12, 2017

The New Year is a time for forecasts and ThinCats predict that both P2P interest rates and defaults will reduce in 2017 – on their site at least. Meanwhile LendingCrowd are the latest to introduce a managed account.

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Secret Investor: FCA concerned about managed funds

Last post: Dec 16, 2016

In their latest report on the P2P sector, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) expressed concerns about Managed Funds such as Assetz Capital’s Quick Access Account and Money & Co’s Portfolio Service. As these distribute funds to borrowers who are unknown to investors and are often backed by Provision Funds that imply capital returns are guaranteed, these are similar to bank accounts but P2P companies do not have to comply with the rigorous regulations that exists in the banking sector.

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Secret Investor: Funding Circle continues to break records

Last post: Dec 2, 2016

Following last week’s Autumn Statement, a fresh injection of £400 million to the Government’s British Business Bank will make further capital available to Funding Circle’s borrowers as the most prominent P2P platform continues to break records.

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Secret Investor: Zopa submit an application to become a bank

Last post: Nov 17, 2016

Interest rates on Personal P2P Loans continue to plummet… Zopa submit an application to become a bank… Assetz Capital list 9 loans to fund Wind Turbine Projects ahead of the withdrawal of Government subsidies

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Secret Investor: Banks to Pass Rejected Loan Applications to Referral Platforms

Last post: Nov 4, 2016

On 1st November, the Bank Referral Scheme went live. This forces the high street banks to pass any loan applications from SMEs they reject to "referral platforms" which will then search for a suitable method to raise the required capital. This can include everything from peer-to-peer lenders, to building societies, to challenger banks. It will be interesting to see whether this will see an increase in the number of loans listed on P2P sites… and whether they will be worth investing in.

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