P2P Lending Platform News Round-up

by The Secret Investor

Assetz Capital are set to boom in 2016 with £6.6 million worth of capital handed over to borrowers in the past fortnight. They also have a strong pipeline of loans… Meanwhile FundingCircle continue to go from strength to strength, lending £30 million in the last couple of weeks.

Totals lent to date (4th February 2016)

*All data correct at the time this blog was compiled

LOANS TO BUSINESSES

Assetz Capital – £92,992,589
Funding Circle - £1,070,520,060
FundingKnight - £29,552,500
FundingSecure - £20,444,624
Money & Co –  £6 million approx
Rebuildingsociety - £8,567,425
ThinCats - £150,446,000
Invest and Fund - £1 million plus
LendingCrowd - £3.7 million
ArchOver - £10,915,000

PERSONAL P2P LENDING

Zopa - £1,270,000,000
RateSetter - £1,025,867,057

Lending Works - £21,192,261

…………..

LOANS TO BUSINESS

Assetz Capital  

Lent to Date: £92,992,589 – increase of £6,616,000 – 7.66% growth.

Assetz Capital had been so quiet around the turn of the year that I was getting a little concerned but the past fortnight has been exceptionally busy with borrowers raising £6.6 million of funding.

This performance looks set to continue according to their very healthy pipeline of loans which is now viewable on the website.

Current there are 36 upcoming and pipeline loans. This high figure has tempted The Secret Investor to make his monthly deposit for February on this site. While it is likely that this capital will be lent out at interest rates of between 7% and 10% pa – lower than is available on other sites – such a strong pipeline will allow good diversification and Assetz Capital provide so much detail about each loan that it becomes less of a gamble when compared to the likes of Funding Circle.

As many of the loans in the pipeline are scheduled to yield 7%, I have put half of the new deposit into the Great British Business Account (GBBA) – one of 3 managed accounts protected by provision funds with returns of 3.75% to 7% depending on accessibility – so that my money will be earning 7% pa at the same time as being protected. The remainder of the deposit will be allocated to selected loans which offer circa 10% pa.

Highlighted Loan: A borrower was looking to raise £140k to purchase a large private residence with the intention of converting it into a childcare nursery. Security was provided by a company debenture and a first charge over the property plus a small personal guarantee. Although a start-up company, there is reportedly strong demand for childcare in the area and the borrower has been so cautious with their financial projections that 9% pa seems to be a healthy return. In fact, so impressed was I with the proposal that I put in £100 instead of my usual maximum of £80. Let's hope it doesn't end in tears – neither mine nor the kids!

Funding Circle

Lent to Date: £1,070,520,060 – increase of £30,486,880 – 2.93% growth.

The controversial move from auctions to pre-determined interest rates certainly seems to have been a success in terms of turnover after a record breaking fortnight for Funding Circle. The rate of growth is now matching market leader Zopa.

There were 42 auctions taking place when this blog was compiled.

Secret Investor's Activity: The loans that offer the highest returns get filled very quickly on this site therefore I have switched on Auto-Bid to pick up my share of C, D & E rated deals. Below are highlights from my activity in the past fortnight:

Highlighted Accepted Loan:

Loan of £50k to Landscape Engineers looking to consolidate their debts (C risk rating, 11.9% return). Good credit rating and the business had been operating since 2003.

Highlight Rejected Loan:

Loan of 111k to Law Firm to cover late payments. Something didn't add up. The loan was a small proportion of annual turnover and up to 2014 could have been easily covered by profits without needing to pay interest. The accounts listed on FC were 16 months old and there was an unanswered question on the Q&A about an alleged loss they made last year. As this was also allocated an E risk band by Funding Circle, clearly there was an adverse aspect to the business that hadn't been explained. It was soon sold at a 0.2% premium.

Defaults: My hopes of a respite from defaults were dashed today when one of my older loans went bad. The borrower had been behind with their repayments for some time having paid back less than a quarter of the capital. Not so long ago my total defaults were slightly less than the fees I paid on this site but now they are more than double.

FundingKnight

Lent to Date: £29,552,500 – increase of £260,000 – 0.89% growth.

There were no auctions listed when this blog was compiled.

Highlighted Loan: Last week a property developer was looking to raise £178k to complete work required on 5 industrial units. This was a bridging loan prior to long term finance being arranged once tenants had been found and was required due to a family bereavement delaying the borrower's plans. It had a reserve rate of 10.03% pa – to be precise!

Platform News: FundingKnight have announced a parting of the waves with one of their major sources of capital – GLI Finance. This has led to press speculation that the platform may struggle to raise the funds to meet the requirements of future loans. Indeed, I have been contacted in the past fortnight by the FundingKnight team to ask why I haven't invested in the site. Unfortunately, they don't have the volume to offer the diversity I require.HHH

FundingSecure

Lent to Date: £20,444,624 – Last updated at the start of January

At the time this blog was compiled, no loans were available to invest in although several are posted on the site each week.

Highlighted Loan: A very hi tech loan was listed recently when a borrower was looking to raise £12k to fund the design and build of his website. Security was offered against three domain names valued at £20k. The usual return of 12% pa was available. Possibly due to the unusual nature of the security, the loan was slower to fill than I expected but all the capital had been raised by the following day.

Buying to Sell: A large bridging loan for £350k to develop some land was listed just after I had deposited £500 into my FundingSecure account four weeks ago. I invested the full amount looking to sell and make a quick profit however the loan was only drawn-down today so I am waiting to find out whether putting so many eggs in one basket was a wise move. I do, of course, have the option of offloading any parts that don't find buyers at no premium.

Default: I have had my first Funding Secure default. Fortunately, I only had £25 invested in this loan. The purpose of the default seems to have been to give the borrower a deadline to settle the loan. I wait to see whether they pay up or whether the security is sold.

Platform News: This ever expanding platform has had to relocate to larger offices to keep on top of their increasing workload.

Money & Co

Lent to Date: £6 million approx. (latest available figure) 

There were no auctions taking place when this report was compiled.

rebuildingsociety

Lent to Date: £8,567,425 – latest figure available.

There were 3 auctions active on this site when this blog was compiled.

Highlighted Loan: A manufacturer of bespoke packaging was looking to raise £50k to fund a marketing campaign. There was a concern because previously the borrower had to fold a company that operated in the same field but it was clear from their excellent responses in the Q&A that lessons had been learnt and this gave me the confidence to put a bid in.

ThinCats

Lent to Date: £150,446,000 – increase of £2,511,000 – 1.7% growth.

6 loans are available to invest in.

Highlighted Loan: An electronics manufacturer is looking to raise £150k to fund further expansion. They have an existing Thin Cats loan which will also be repaid by this fresh capital injection. The target rate is a healthy 12% pa. Security is provided by a debenture and chattels mortgage over the equipment that was bought with the previous loan.

Invest & Fund

Lent to Date: Over £1 million

No new loans have been added to the platform since New Year

Platform News: The Secondary Market at Invest & Fund was busier than ever in January with almost £0.5 million worth of loans traded. The platform has also announced that a more user-friendly version of their website is under development.

LendingCrowd

Lent to Date: Over £3.7 million when the site last updated their figures.

There were 2 auctions taking place when this blog was compiled.

Highlighted Loan: An established gardening business was looking to raise £31k to buy 3 vans which were coming to the end of their lease agreement. The rationale behind the purchase – avoiding the need for sign-writing on replacement vehicles and adding assets to the balance sheet – seemed very sound. I contributed funds at just under 12%.

ArchOver

Lent to Date: £10,915,000 – no change in the past fortnight.

There was 1 auction taking place when this blog was compiled.

Recently a ventilation subcontractor returned to ArchOver and were able to quickly raise £100k. Investors were offered a return of 6.25% over the 12 month term. This rate is less than those available on many other sites in this section of the blog but the risks are also much lower as in addition to security via a first, floating charge on the borrower's Accounts Receivable, the loan is also insured.

The low risk is underlined by the fact that no loans have defaulted on this site.

INVESTUP PORTFOLIO

There were 11 loan auctions – predominantly these are from ReBuildingSociety and ThinCats – taking place when this blog was compiled.

PERSONAL P2P LENDING

Zopa

Lent to Date:  £1.27 Billion – latest figure available. They no longer list their total lent on their home page. Could that be because Funding Circle are catching them up at the top of the lending charts?

Returns: Interest rates are 3.8% to 5% depending on the length of the investment. These are unchanged from a fortnight ago.

Zopa distribute investor's money mostly to unsecured consumer loans however capital is covered by a Provision Fund.

Ratesetter

Lent to Date: £1,025,867,057 – increase of £25,429,029 – 2.54% growth.

Returns: Interest rates are set according to supply and demand. They currently range from 3.1% to 6.1% depending on the length of the investment, these figures tend to fluctuate by no more than a few decimal places.

Capital is covered by a Provision Fund. Ratesetter proudly boast that no investor has lost a penny since they launched in 2010.

Lending Works

Lent to Date: £21,192,261 – increase of £949,113 – 4.69% growth.

Returns: 4.7% and 6.3% for 3 and 5 year investments respectively – no change from a fortnight ago.

As well as a Provision Fund to cover investor's funds, this site also insures borrowers against redundancy, fraud, illness and accidents making this a very fair site for all concerned.

****Disclaimer: This blog contains the views of the Secret Investor. Your capital is at risk when lending via all P2P Platforms. You're recommended to speak to a qualified Independent Financial Advisor.