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Post by CrowdProperty Representative on Sept 27, 2019 14:22:34 GMT
We are continuously evolving our popular AutoInvest product and we are delighted to announce the introduction of AutoReinvest. This functionality means, once repaid, your capital and interest can be automatically redeployed for a truly hands-free, long-term solution to investing. Automatically reinvesting your capital and interest in projects will compound your returns, making sure your money continues to work as hard as you do.
AutoReinvest currently only applies to AutoInvest paybacks (capital and interest); we will look to add this feature to Self-Select in future.
CrowdProperty AutoInvest is a stress-free way to ensure you're investing in every high-quality, first charge secured project we launch on our platform. We've built AutoInvest to save you time and effort, and to help you build a highly diversified investment portfolio, without platform or financial adviser fees.
Your AutoInvest pledges can now be seen in your dedicated AutoInvest Portfolio and an account summary can be seen on each of your CrowdProperty Portfolio pages. This is just the first step in updating our user interface, with further improvements to come as we aim to deliver clearer information and better navigation of accounts.
Thank you for you continued support as we strive to build a great proposition for our customers
As always, we welcome your feedback and please continue to get in touch.
Best regards,
The Team at CrowdProperty
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Post by Ace on Sept 27, 2019 15:15:09 GMT
I've been eagerly awaiting this new auto-reinvest setting, but I can't find it. Where should I be looking?
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Post by CrowdProperty Representative on Sept 30, 2019 15:17:45 GMT
Hi Ace,
Currently, AutoReinvest is automatically turned on when AutoInvest is turned on. This means any AutoInvest repayments, whether capital or interest, will be added to your AutoInvest allocation and will continue to be diversified.
We will be further evolving the AutoInvest and AutoReinvest settings shortly (well before any AutoInvest capital repayments are due), allowing you to specify if you want to AutoReinvest your capital, interest or capital and interest repayments (eventually for both AutoInvest and SelfSelect accounts). When these settings are fully implemented, payments you don’t wish to automatically reinvest will be paid back into your Self Select account and is why we have created greater separation between the two investment methods in your account pages. In addition to the new account summary table introduced last week, we are working on improved account information and navigation at both summary and detailed levels.
Kind regards,
The CrowdProperty Team
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Post by Ace on Sept 30, 2019 17:10:15 GMT
Thanks for clarifying CrowdProperty Representative. I may be jumping the gun a bit here as you say that the changes are not yet complete, but did you realise that the AutoInvest/SelfSelect separation is a bit of a mess at the moment. Many of my AutoInvest transactions are listed on the SelfSelect page rather than the AutoInvest page. To be honest, I don't really understand the reason behind separating the two investment methods. I don't really care which method was used to make the investment. For those that do care perhaps a simple SS/AI column could have been added to the transaction and investment tables. I would still like a display of my platform total value. I should say that, despite these minor window dressing issues, you're still one of my favourite platforms. I'll be adding more funds soon.
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Post by CrowdProperty Representative on Sept 30, 2019 17:24:33 GMT
Hi Ace
Many thanks for your response. We needed to separate the two investment methods in order to enable AutoReinvest (for both initial implementation and future evolution) as that required separated balances / transaction histories for each. We are now building a single, aggregated view into our overall account changes which will bring greater clarity, including a single view of all transactions. In aggregate, your total platform value is currently shown in the summary table that sits above the detailed view of each 'pot' on your account pages.
Kind regards,
The CrowdProperty Team
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Post by Ace on Sept 30, 2019 18:22:30 GMT
Thanks again for engaging CrowdProperty Representative. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see the total platform value anywhere. Currently I have to add the "Total Portfolio Value", "Total Available" and "Uncollected Pledges". And that's after I've had to work out yet again which numbers need to be added. I can't think of any other platform that doesn't give me this, most important, figure.
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Post by Ace on Sept 30, 2019 21:39:52 GMT
Sorry CrowdProperty Representative, it's me again 😩 I've been trying to understand your explanation for requiring separate SelfSelect and AutoInvest balances and I just can't grasp it. If it's because you are going to add a new feature that you can't tell me about yet then please accept my apologies and ignore the remainder of this message. I'm really not trying to be rude here, but have you actually asked investors if they want the added complexity of managing two separate pots? Perhaps a poll is required? For me, having separate SelfSelect and AutoInvest balances just adds unnecessary complexity for no perceived benefit. I would prefer to have a single "available funds" balance. If I have AutoInvest enabled I would like you to invest up to my single loan limit in each loan until either: the available balance is exhausted, or I switch AutoInvest off. At any time, regardless of whether AutoInvest is enabled, I should be free to invest some/all of my "available funds" balance via SelfSelect. This simpler system has no requirement for an AutoReinvest setting. If AutoInvest is switched on then of course I want any repayments to be reinvested. I accept that some people might want a setting to automatically withdraw all interest payments, but that's a different issue. Other settings, such as minimum interest rate, would be welcome (as previously discussed). Perhaps other users that value the concept of two separate pots would like to comment. At the end of the day, it's your platform so you can do whatever you like, it's just that I don't personally see the value in it. I'm happy to carry on investing whatever you decide. I've had a bad day, so sorry if my grumpiness is showing through. As always, good luck.
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Post by CrowdProperty Representative on Oct 1, 2019 18:49:57 GMT
Hi Ace
Many thanks for your ongoing feedback. We have thousands of lenders on our platform and we are building the system that works best for all. There are a total of 6 'pots' from which a lender can invest - AutoInvest and SelfSelect investment methods across standard, ISA and pension sources of funds. Many people have funds in multiple pots and wish to retain flexibility in how they invest, both across sources of funds and within one source of funds. For example, some operate a base level of autoinvest and top up on particular projects through SelfSelect from the same source of funds. We need to cater for all investment strategies and needs for our customers.
As of last week, there are two summary tables at the top of every account view, which is a summary of your entire account. The top mini-table, consisting of two rows, shows your 'Total Portfolio Value' (which is the total of active loans, loans to be started and pledges made) and 'Total Available' (which is the total cash balance, less any pledges). These two numbers are the totals that you are looking for, separating capital allocated to loans and cash balance (as we feel that both are important numbers for customers). The table directly below that mini table shows these values broken down by each of the 6 'pots'. You can use this table to navigate too, as clicking on the cell contents will take you to that pot (and the relevant cells in that table will highlight green).
We are working on further summary, detail and navigation improvements to accounts which will be with your shortly - rest assured that delivering simplicity from the complexity of options to invest we offer is a priority project for our in-house tech team.
Kind regards,
The CrowdProperty Team
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littleoldlady
Member of DD Central
Running down all platforms due to age
Posts: 3,017
Likes: 1,835
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Post by littleoldlady on Oct 12, 2019 15:30:27 GMT
Unless I am going nuts (quite possible) after topping up autoinvest from self-select available the figures don't immediately update. After I checked transactions they did.
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benaj
Member of DD Central
Posts: 4,853
Likes: 1,591
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Post by benaj on Jan 9, 2020 15:51:51 GMT
CrowdProperty AutoInvest is a stress-free way to ensure you're investing in every high-quality, first charge secured project we launch on our platform. We've built AutoInvest to save you time and effort, and to help you build a highly diversified investment portfolio, without platform or financial adviser fees. ........ As always, we welcome your feedback and please continue to get in touch. Best regards, The Team at CrowdProperty My first impression of CrowdProperty - I do like the investment opportunities. I try not to be negative about the platform, but I am confused by the UI, the UX would be enhanced with a makeover. 1. "Your Dashboard Portfolio Value" - Does not show total balance, it shows Pledged / invested amount and available amount separately. 2. Loans are filled almost instantly, but slight cash drag from pledge to loan commencement (from days to weeks) 3. The platform is popular it seems, I do agree Autoinvest is a time saver. But Autoinvest may not invest full 20% of the fund if the loan amount is small and popular. Imagine 5% of fund pledged and having 95% of the fund earning nothing. 4. The UI - It is not designed for quick navigation. Without the touchscreen, I have to move the cursor a lot for navigation and click, click click. 5. Withdrawal so far is not the quickest compared to other platforms I invested. I have been told they are all done manually. 6. There is no direct way to use available fund instantly in Autoinvest for self select investment, the fund must be transferred first, which can be done within a minute. It was actually one of my stressful experience in navigating P2P Lending platform.
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Post by Ace on Jan 9, 2020 21:06:13 GMT
... 1. "Your Dashboard Portfolio Value" - Does not show total balance, it shows Pledged / invested amount and available amount separately. 2. Loans are filled almost instantly, but slight cash drag from pledge to loan commencement (from days to weeks) 3. The platform is popular it seems, I do agree Autoinvest is a time saver. But Autoinvest may not invest full 20% of the fund if the loan amount is small and popular. Imagine 5% of fund pledged and having 95% of the fund earning nothing. 4. The UI - It is not designed for quick navigation. Without the touchscreen, I have to move the cursor a lot for navigation and click, click click. 5. Withdrawal so far is not the quickest compared to other platforms I invested. I have been told they are all done manually. 6. There is no direct way to use available fund instantly in Autoinvest for self select investment, the fund must be transferred first, which can be done within a minute. ... Hi benaj , hopefully CP will respond, but in the meantime here are my thoughts on your points: 1. I totally agree, and have mentioned it to CP a couple of times, but they like it better as is. I've got used to having to remember to add the two figures together, but it still feels unintuitive to me. They added the Overview Summary way down the page as a compromise. 2. I've just accepted that there is some inbuilt cash drag. I deal with it by mentally reducing the stated rates by 1% (I.e. 8% becomes 7% not 7.92%), which is where I expect to end up in the long term if I can keep my funds almost fully employed. I still feel that it's a reasonable return for what I consider to be one of the safer P2P platforms. 3. You're right again, and this does add to the cash drag, but I've found that the increasing number of loans has made it fairly easy for me to get fully invested. I occasionally add to my investments via SelfSelect to speed things up. Also, it's only a significant issue when adding large amounts of funds. Once fully invested it should be easier to reinvest irregular repayments. 4. Fair point, but not really a problem for me as I almost always use a touchscreen device. 5. I haven't tried withdrawing yet, so can't comment. (Note to self - you really should have checked this out). 6. I totally agree. I proposed a simplified solution above, but CP say that most users prefer it this way. It still makes no sense to me, and when I asked for anyone who preferred it to comment, no-one did. Given that 5 people liked my post proposing that they merge the SelfSelect and AutoInvest pots I take that as a 6 to zero in favour of simplification, but have to accept it's a very small sample size. Also, I wish they would fix the dashboard Transaction History. It currently lists all AutoInvest transactions after all SelfSelect transactions. So, my latest Jan 2020 interest payments from an AutoInvest loan appear in the middle of the list instead of at the top! This would be much more useful if it was fully date ordered. Despite the annoyances, it's still a one of my favourite platforms as it does the most important things very well, I.e. Excellent DD and good loan management. At least it has so far...
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Nomad
Member of DD Central
Posts: 727
Likes: 494
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Post by Nomad on Jan 9, 2020 21:30:40 GMT
Yes, one of the better platforms, but let down by a poorly structured website with a rather cumbersome and non-intuitive UI.
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Post by CrowdProperty Representative on Jan 10, 2020 16:06:40 GMT
Hi benaj, Ace and Nomad,
Thanks for your comments.
As per your request, we have asked our development team to show a single total value on the platform. In the new account page structures we had simplified this down to two conceptually different numbers but can also provide the single number. We will let you know once this is live and, as always, please do let us know if you have any further feedback.
Benaj – sorry you haven’t found our withdrawals to be the quickest, we have previously been noted on this forum for the quick and efficient withdrawals process we have at CrowdProperty, which we recognise is important. Withdrawals are normally returned to lenders bank accounts within 24 hours, however we do advise that this can take 1-5 working days. For security purposes, all withdrawals over a certain value are subject to further approvals processes which if made during office hours in the working week do not significantly delay withdrawals. As communicated a number of times in the lead up to Christmas, such withdrawals would not be approved during the Christmas shut-down period. We will always communicate well in advance any upcoming dates where withdrawal responsiveness may be affected such that you can plan for that.
Most of our projects do fill relatively quickly and we do all we can to raise funds for a project as close to the completion date as possible. For example, during the week before Christmas a project launched on the platform on the Tuesday and completed and was earning interest by the Friday, just 3 days later. However, we always work in the best interest of the lenders and we must make sure all legal aspects are satisfied before completing on a loan, due to the nature of property sometimes unforeseen things can arise meaning the completion takes slightly longer. Protecting of our lenders funds and maintaining our 100% payback track record is our number one priority which is why so much time is invested in our due diligence and security processes – before during and after a project launch.
Our AutoInvest feature is a hands-free investment tool to enable you to build a highly diversified portfolio. Should AutoInvest be more subscribed than the maximum amount allocated to AutoInvest for a project, every lenders’ pledge would be proportionally reduced to ensure all lenders get a place on the loan and so that it is fair for self-select lenders too. AutoInvest funds are spread across a minimum of 5 first charge secured projects and smaller loans often mean a more diversified portfolio is built, further spreading the risk. We have a very strong pipeline of projects to kick off the New Year with at least 2 projects launching per week so it should not take long for your funds to be fully utilised in a diversified manner.
As we have mentioned previously, our lenders like having the segregated AutoInvest pot as this enables them to more easily manage their investments and AutoInvest settings. Should you wish to use your AutoInvest funds for a self-select pledge, you can reduce the funds from your AutoInvest via the AutoInvest settings in just a couple of clicks.
Ace – thank you for your comment regarding the ordering of your Loan Portfolio. Having looked into this our dev team have raised a ticket to order your Dashboard Loan Portfolio in date order rather than the current pledge type order. Please note we will also be adding a dashboard for each individual account so you can view all pledges associated with that account – i.e. all IFISA self-select and AutoInvest pledges on one loan portfolio.
We are really pleased you acknowledge the hard work that goes into making CrowdProperty a great investment platform and we really appreciate your feedback.
Kind regards,
The CrowdProperty Team
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Post by skidrow on Jan 12, 2020 14:13:46 GMT
CrowdProperty AutoInvest is a stress-free way to ensure you're investing in every high-quality, first charge secured project we launch on our platform. We've built AutoInvest to save you time and effort, and to help you build a highly diversified investment portfolio, without platform or financial adviser fees. ........ As always, we welcome your feedback and please continue to get in touch. Best regards, The Team at CrowdProperty My first impression of CrowdProperty - I do like the investment opportunities. I try not to be negative about the platform, but I am confused by the UI, the UX would be enhanced with a makeover. 1. "Your Dashboard Portfolio Value" - Does not show total balance, it shows Pledged / invested amount and available amount separately. 2. Loans are filled almost instantly, but slight cash drag from pledge to loan commencement (from days to weeks) 3. The platform is popular it seems, I do agree Autoinvest is a time saver. But Autoinvest may not invest full 20% of the fund if the loan amount is small and popular. Imagine 5% of fund pledged and having 95% of the fund earning nothing. 4. The UI - It is not designed for quick navigation. Without the touchscreen, I have to move the cursor a lot for navigation and click, click click. 5. Withdrawal so far is not the quickest compared to other platforms I invested. I have been told they are all done manually. 6. There is no direct way to use available fund instantly in Autoinvest for self select investment, the fund must be transferred first, which can be done within a minute. It was actually one of my stressful experience in navigating P2P Lending platform. Sorry, I'm a new poster. I'll get the hang of it soon
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Post by skidrow on Jan 12, 2020 14:17:39 GMT
I broadly agree with your points with the exception of number 5. I find payments from CrowdProperty to be the fastest of all my platforms. I understand they use Santander which happens to be my bank too.
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