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Post by chris on Oct 22, 2014 9:56:53 GMT
Please take into account usability and how fiddly adding extra settings on each loan could be, and also the confusion that can be caused if someone sets a target and a repayment is then made before any investment has taken place and their target is then modified.
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pikestaff
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Post by pikestaff on Oct 22, 2014 10:14:50 GMT
chris I have voted for user selection by loan. As posted elsewhere, I think it can be fixed in one of two ways: either (a) let us turn off the AI loan by loan, or (b) let us have an option to set targets as a % of each loan. If you could present (b) in such a way that it looked like we were selecting an amortising cash target (which is the same thing really), so much the better. If you are worried about making things too complicated for lenders, you could just give us (a). PS: Thank you for the poll! 
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ianb
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Post by ianb on Oct 22, 2014 10:23:55 GMT
chris I have voted for user selection by loan. As posted elsewhere, I think it can be fixed in one of two ways: either (a) let us turn off the AI loan by loan, or (b) let us have an option to set targets as a % of each loan. If you could present (b) in such a way that it looked like we were selecting an amortising cash target (which is the same thing really), so much the better. If you are worried about making things too complicated for lenders, you could just give us (a). (a) sounds good to me, I'm too thick to understand (b) 
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Post by planetx on Oct 22, 2014 10:27:21 GMT
I'd also say that the option to simply turn off AI by loan would be the simplest solution. That way you could leave the current logic (no amortisation of target) in place without the need for configurable options.
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Post by batchoy on Oct 22, 2014 10:45:21 GMT
chris I have voted for user selection by loan. As posted elsewhere, I think it can be fixed in one of two ways: either (a) let us turn off the AI loan by loan, or (b) let us have an option to set targets as a % of each loan. If you could present (b) in such a way that it looked like we were selecting an amortising cash target (which is the same thing really), so much the better. If you are worried about making things too complicated for lenders, you could just give us (a). PS: Thank you for the poll! There is also a further option of bringing back the facility to set the maximum % holding which would prevent the current theoretical position where you can end up 100% of the remaining principle as an amortising loan comes to maturity. Additionally I don't see the need for a global switch if there is a by loan setting as this can be achieved by routing interest and repayments to the cash account whilst the the settings and targets for individual loans are modified.
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TFTO
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Post by TFTO on Oct 22, 2014 10:46:20 GMT
Allow us to turn AI on and off at will by loan, shouild be simple to implement.
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sl75
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Post by sl75 on Oct 22, 2014 11:04:36 GMT
As mentioned elsewhere (probably buried in the middle of one of the long threads), I cannot see how Assetz have any legal authority to purchase additional exposure to loans on behalf of users who never enabled auto-invest on the old site, and never explicitly set an investment target on the new site.
At an absolute minimum, there needs to be a mechanism so that the instructions that Assetz had previously received w.r.t. loans that never had an AI target can continue to be followed, by allowing those loans to continue to amortise.
Further, if Assetz have already made unauthorised purchases on behalf of such users, surely these must be reversed until or unless the users in question change their instruction?
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gnasher
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Post by gnasher on Oct 22, 2014 11:08:23 GMT
Chris, I have a great deal of sympathy with you on this one. It would be very easy to respond to the requests of your sophisticated lenders but make it all too confusing for new comers. I have voted for the 2nd option, at the time of voting the only one. I had a think about how it could best work, and I think your second option is it. Just to be sure let me explain.
If I set a target of say 500, then it should stay as 500 over the amortising months while I am invested below target. Over time my investment will build up to my target. Then when I hit my target of 500 the behaviour changes, both target and investement amortise together. i.e. it behaves like a proper amortising loan and no more investements are made by the system on my behalf.
If I change my target then the system buys or sells until my target is reached again, then goes dormant once again and the loan amortises
That seems to be to be pretty simple to implement, and for investors to understand and hence control to achieve the behavious they want. The only change to accompany that would be to highlight against each loan if it is amortising or a bullet.
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bigfoot12
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Post by bigfoot12 on Oct 22, 2014 11:11:27 GMT
Chris,
I voted for user selectable. My solution would be to default to amortising and then have an advanced settings button which opens up more settings so those that experienced users can adjust things further, but the beginner gets a sensible default without being confused. A global default would be good if it is easy.
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Vero
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Post by Vero on Oct 22, 2014 11:12:05 GMT
I was very happy with the way the original AI worked up until yesterday morning. Here is a summary:
- by default AI was not enabled, anywhere
- if and when required, I could choose to enable AI: - only for specific loans, on a loan by loan basis - each loan configured to only buy or only sell, or to buy & sell, as required
[less room for AI 'accidents', especially amortising loans where a matched target & holding become unmatched upon payment]
- with actual, straightforward, target values being set [not Reduce by/Increase by, this wastes time calculating odd figures & invites errors] - with an option to set a maximum holding as a percentage of the entire loan [useful for amortising loans, to prevent unwanted automatic growth]
- when AI temporarily not required, disable the mandate on a loan by loan basis
- when AI no longer required, delete the mandate on a loan by loan basis
- an Auto Invest tab/page, with a list of all of my AI mandates, so I knew what was happening, & could review, manage & disable/delete them easily
- ability to pay cash in for a specific purchase, & not have it automatically assigned to a different, unwanted, loan by AI
Not sure if I missed anything?
Now the new bells and whistles are lovely, but if we could have the old functionality restored, I would be much happier.
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bigfoot12
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Post by bigfoot12 on Oct 22, 2014 11:15:51 GMT
Maybe the AI confirmation should warn what is about to happen. 'AI will try to buy £200 more of this loan.' or 'AI will try to sell £450 of your current holding.'
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Post by Ton ⓉⓞⓃ on Oct 22, 2014 11:16:36 GMT
Chris, I have a great deal of sympathy with you on this one. It would be very easy to respond to the requests of your sophisticated lenders but make it all too confusing for new comers. I have voted for the 2nd option, at the time of voting the only one. I had a think about how it could best work, and I think your second option is it. Just to be sure let me explain. If I set a target of say 500, then it should stay as 500 over the amortising months while I am invested below target. Over time my investment will build up to my target. Then when I hit my target of 500 the behaviour changes, both target and investement amortise together. i.e. it behaves like a proper amortising loan and no more investements are made by the system on my behalf. If I change my target then the system buys or sells until my target is reached again, then goes dormant once again and the loan amortises That seems to be to be pretty simple to implement, and for investors to understand and hence control to achieve the behavious they want. The only change to accompany that would be to highlight against each loan if it is amortising or a bullet. I think in some loans I'll be doing as you suggest, as to how to get there technically... over to chris, but it's looking like a Control Panel is needed. I've voted for the bottom option.
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Post by mrclondon on Oct 22, 2014 11:54:38 GMT
I've voted for the bottom one, and like others would have a preference for a simple enable/disable of the manual investment on each loan, with a filter to see just the loans enabled for purchases / sales.
Amortization isn't the only case where the current behaviour could be against the wishes of many. As I understand it, the new system is designed to handle partial repayments of captal without the creation of a new loan. So as it stands if a borrower repays 50% of the loan, the system would attempt to use the funds returned to buy any units for sale to return to the original holding level. I'm in the camp that would prefer that behaviour, but I suspect the vast majority wouldn't be.
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Post by chris on Oct 22, 2014 12:08:23 GMT
Maybe the AI confirmation should warn what is about to happen. 'AI will try to buy £200 more of this loan.' or 'AI will try to sell £450 of your current holding.' That's coming very soon.
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sl75
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Post by sl75 on Oct 22, 2014 12:11:42 GMT
On further though, the best solution seems to me to have "null" as a valid target value at database level, and interpreted as "no target has been set". The system would then neither buy nor sell any units of that loan. This would correspond to a checkbox in the UI for whether the system should attempt to maintain the specified target.
(or depending on the database schema, it could be done equivalently by having the database entry for the target simply absent).
Oh, and also, please return to specifying the target rather than how much the target needs to change by... to fill in the form as it is, I'm forced to do mental arithmetic (or open the windows calculator) - if the current target was, say, £150 and I want it to be £200, I need to subtract £150 from £200 to figure out I need a £50 increase - fine for nice round numbers like this, but a bit awkward if one or other number is non-round.
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