*All data correct at the time this blog was compiled

LOANS TO BUSINESSES

Assetz Capital – £80,000,000 almost
Funding Circle - £753,736,340
FundingKnight - £21,721,500
FundingSecure - £10,694,854
Money & Co –  £6 million approx
Rebuildingsociety - £7,354,845
ThinCats - £122,467,000
Invest and Fund - £1 million plus
LendingCrowd - £1.25 million plus
ArchOver - £6,255,000

PERSONAL P2P LENDING

Lending Works - £11,970,673
Zopa - £948,000,000
RateSetter - £731,048,479

…………..

LOANS TO BUSINESS

Assetz Capital  

Lent to Date: Almost £80 million

16 loans currently require funding.

Highlighted Loan: An upcoming loan for £137,000 will enable the borrowers to construct offices in the Wimbledon area. Drawdown is anticipated in a few weeks. Assetz Capital advise that their staff have visited the location to confirm the validity of the project which is reassuring. The loan will have a duration of 18 months and return 10% per annum (pa) with no fees to the platform. The appeal of this loan is that there is a first charge on the property and a second charge on the borrower's residential property thus offering double security. I will be funding a portion of the capital albeit with my usual miniscule percentage of the total.

Loan Recovery: It was good to receive notification that a property that was being held as security has been sold enabling funds to be recovered on a Bridging Loan I had invested in which the borrower had been unable to repay since last winter. This has taken a while, as can sometimes be the case, but no capital has been lost.

Platform News: It is prudent to have a proportion of your Peer to Peer funds invested in accounts that are protected by Provision Funds. The best rate I have found for an account of this nature is the 7% returned by Assetz Capital's Green Energy Income Account. The platform has launched a sister product in the shape of The Great British Business Account. Funds in this will be lent to a range of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in the UK.

It is very similar to the Green Energy offering as it also returns 7% with any profits after fees being ploughed into the Provision Fund (which will hold capital from the outset) but it does allow investors further diversification as Assetz Capital have confirmed that the two funds will never invest in the same business.

I feel it would do me no harm to have more capital invested in Provision Fund protected schemes and, as I already have some money in the Green Energy Income Account, I plan to invest in the new offering this month with the possibility of adding further funds next Spring when April's Alternative Finance ISA's will bring additional money into Peer to Peer platforms. This increase in supply may push down rates for loans that are subject to auctions making fixed rate products such as this more attractive.

Funding Circle

Lent to Date: £753,736,340 – growth of just under £23 million since 23rd July. The platform celebrated a record-breaking £47.5 million that was lent during July.

55 loans are available across 6 risk bands (6% to 18.2% before fees and defaults)

Highlighted Loan: I recently picked up a D rated loan for a return of 13.5% pa – well above the 12.2% minimum for this risk band. It was for an MOT Test Centre looking to expand so that it can accommodate commercial vehicles.

A couple of bad reviews on Google for the garage in question may have deterred some from investing however when these were highlighted in the Q&A section the borrower provided a full and very credible explanation. The first related to a rival enterprise in the local area rather than their garage and the second was posted by a memorably difficult customer. These explanations were believable and so I invested.

A little bad news: An insolvency practitioner has contacted the platform with regards to one of the loans I helped to fund. The borrower only has a single repayment left thus, as most loans on Funding Circle are repayment, I will only lose a few pounds of my capital if the worst happens but it is still very sad to hear of anyone experiencing the trauma of insolvency.

FundingKnight

Lent to Date: £21,721,500 – growth of £275,500 since 23rd July

Highlighted Loan: A company that operates 6 care homes in the Midlands requires £1/4 million to fund the refurbishment of one of their establishments to attract more private clients (who increase the revenue of the business). The average interest rate at the time of writing is 11% with FundingKnight not charging investors fees. The care firm has expanded since buying its first home in 2004 and is familiar with Alternative Finance platforms as it also has a Bridging Loan on one of its properties with Assetz Capital. Expected income of £2.1 million over the next 6 months puts the amounts being borrowed into perspective.

Platform news: FundingKnight has released new features their secondary market – known as The Loan Exchange. The new tools automate buying in to loans, making it quick and easy for lenders to build and maintain a diverse portfolio. Over £15m loans have been sold via the Loan Exchange to date and this number should increase significantly with the launch of these new tools. They are likely to tempt me to invest on the site in the near future.

FundingSecure

Lent to Date: £10,694,854 – £1.8 million (20%) growth in July

BOOM! That is the only word I can use to describe activity on FundingSecure during July. They broke their record for new loans and smashed the £10 million mark for the amount lent. A fifth of the total since this enterprise began came to the platform in July.

This is excellent news for one of my favourite platforms as it offers investors high reward with a record of low defaults.

FundingSecure have "celebrated" by opening a wine cellar! They held some vintage wine as security recently and have set up the capability to hold more assets of this nature in future.

There are at present 2 loans available on the platform.

Highlighted Loan: A loan which will be paid back when a property has been sold has been posted for £112,000 with a return of 13% pa for all contributors. This is a good deal for someone like myself who is a small investor as those with a limited amount of capital are often offered 12% with higher returns restricted to those with greater liquidity.

Security is provided by a three bedroom flat above a retail unit in Notting Hill Gate. It is valued at £3.1m, with an existing mortgage of £910,000. Property is currently held in a trust, pending sale.

Money & Co

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

There are no loans open on this platform.

rebuildingsociety

Lent to Date: £7,354,845 – growth of £183,500 since 23rd July

The platform has one loan requiring funding. A Business Services company operating in the leisure industry wish to borrow £125,000 to enable them to grow. There is a director guarantee and the company claims to have consistently delivered net profits of over £100,000. At the time of writing, the average rate for this auction is a rather spectacular 16.6% pa.

ThinCats

Lent to Date: £122,467,000 – an increase of £2.1 million since 23rd July 

There are 5 loans in the Primary Market

Highlighted Loan: A manufacturer of composite automotive components is looking to raise £130,000 at a Target Rate of 14%. They wish to consolidate their existing borrowing to lower costs. They advise that their order book is looking very healthy.

Platform News: The ThinCats website was unavailable last week as the platform undertook a dress rehearsal for the introduction of their updated software later in the year. It is good to know that they are performing system tests to ensure their new processes will be robust and reliable.

Invest & Fund

Lent to Date: Over £1 million

Platform has 3 loans available

Highlighted Loan: A manufacturer of temperature controlled storage facilities requires £300,000 over 4 years to fund new products and marketing initiatives. Average return for those already invested is 8.5%. The company has excellent credentials having been named in Lloyds Bank's 'MegaGrowth 50' list as the fastest-growing business in Kent!

LendingCrowd

Lent to Date: Over £1.25 million in total

Just a single loan for a Property Maintenance firm looking to expand by applying their successful business model over a wider geographical arena. Bidders on this auction so far will see an average return of 10.75%.

ArchOver

Lent to Date: £6,255,000 – an increase of £120,000 since 23rd July 

Highlighted Loan: There is only one loan on the site at the moment for a supply chain company specialising in Africa. They are looking to borrow half a million pounds to service their current order book. A return of 6.25% is offered for a loan of 364 days thus avoiding withholding tax.

PERSONAL P2P LENDING

Zopa

Lent to Date:  £981 million – an increase of £22 million (2.29%) since 23rd July

Returns: Interest rates are 3.8% to 5% depending on the length of the investment.

Capital is covered by a Protection Fund

Ratesetter

Lent to Date: £731,048,479 – an increase of £17 million since 23rd July

Returns: Interest rates are set according to supply and demand. They currently range from 3% to 6% - slightly higher than recently – depending on the length of the investment.

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

Lending Works

Lent to Date: £11,970,673 – an increase of over £0.6 million since 23rd July

Returns: 4.8% and 6.4% for 3 and 5 year investments respectively. The 3 year figures has reduced by 0.3% in recent weeks.

As well as a Protection 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.