Building a quick portfolio | P2P Independent Forum

lofty

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Building a quick portfolio May 2, 2016 9:42:18 GMT

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Post by lofty on May 2, 2016 9:42:18 GMT

I'm pretty new to Saving Stream (a week), so far I quite like what I see, and would now like to build a relatively rapid portfolio. This is where my questions lie. The activity on the secondary market seems intense - how on earth can these loans come and go that fast? Are there really that many investors out there sat poised staring at their screens or have they got some kind of bot running?

I've managed to grab a couple of loans and on a recent one I accidentally overbought and put myself into a negative balance. I got the 48 hour notice

warning and so I then funded the account (which came through the next morning, despite being a weekend) instead of selling up immediately. So question here

is what's the penalty for going overdrawn? If we can go over is it a standard or frowned upon mechanism of buy as much as is available and then pay? With

overnight interests being paid before settling the account isn't this open to abuse?

What is the point in buying loan parts of <£1? As they don't seem to combine in your portfolio (yes, I am the proud owner of a 37p and a 45p in a loan) isn't interest going to get lost because the loan part is too small to accrue any interest on its own?

Ideally, my portfolio will be as diverse as possible, but at a quick glance the same loans seem to keep appearing and disappearing. Obviously not all loans are equal, but when all things are balanced out shouldn't there be a wider variety of loans being sold?

I'm new here, so my apologies if these questions are all discussed in other posts on the forum - which as a side note is nice to see is quite active - it goes some way to settling my unease about making my first investments through this site.

Cheers

ilmoro
Member of DD Central

'Wondering which of the bu***rs to blame, and watching for pigs on the wing.' - Pink Floyd

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Building a quick portfolio May 2, 2016 9:46:26 GMT

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Post by ilmoro on May 2, 2016 9:46:26 GMT

May 2, 2016 9:42:18 GMT lofty said:

I'm pretty new to Saving Stream (a week), so far I quite like what I see, and would now like to build a relatively rapid portfolio. This is where my questions lie. The activity on the secondary market seems intense - how on earth can these loans come and go that fast? Are there really that many investors out there sat poised staring at their screens or have they got some kind of bot running?

I've managed to grab a couple of loans and on a recent one I accidentally overbought and put myself into a negative balance. I got the 48 hour notice

warning and so I then funded the account (which came through the next morning, despite being a weekend) instead of selling up immediately. So question here

is what's the penalty for going overdrawn? If we can go over is it a standard or frowned upon mechanism of buy as much as is available and then pay? With

overnight interests being paid before settling the account isn't this open to abuse?

What is the point in buying loan parts of <£1? As they don't seem to combine in your portfolio (yes, I am the proud owner of a 37p and a 45p in a loan) isn't interest going to get lost because the loan part is too small to accrue any interest on its own?

Ideally, my portfolio will be as diverse as possible, but at a quick glance the same loans seem to keep appearing and disappearing. Obviously not all loans are equal, but when all things are balanced out shouldn't there be a wider variety of loans being sold?

I'm new here, so my apologies if these questions are all discussed in other posts on the forum - which as a side note is nice to see is quite active - it goes some way to settling my unease about making my first investments through this site.

Cheers

Welcome. Have a read of the first post in Faq thread pinned at top of this board p2pindependentforum.com/post/96270/thread

As you will see going overdrawn isnt an issue, in fact its the main way SS operates and one of its attractive points. There are restrictions on how overdarwn you can go to avoid abuse. There are also potential sanctions for abuse and possibly some changes to prevent rapid selling of purchased loan parts.

Interest does accumulate to multiple DP so although you cant see it you will be earning it in the background

The availability of loan parts on the SM varies from feast to famine, currently in a bit of famine but the situation improves when a new loan launches as existing holders sell older loan parts to fund investments in the new. It is possible to diversify across most loans in a few months. Some loans are more popular so dont appear very often or are small lends so there isnt as much available.

Other useful info can be found in the list of updates also pinned at the top of the board p2pindependentforum.com/post/47560/thread

Last Edit: May 2, 2016 10:04:16 GMT by ilmoro

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PLEASE NOTE : All opinions and observations made on this forum are my own view and made in a personal capacity. I have no links to any platform nor am I a financial professional so posts should not be considered financial advice or promotion. I accept no responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in my posts.

ladywhitenap
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Building a quick portfolio May 2, 2016 12:06:30 GMT

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Post by ladywhitenap on May 2, 2016 12:06:30 GMT

I was in a similar position to the OP a few months back. Eager to get a lump sum invested over a range of SS loans for diversity.
After finding the SM almost impossible as a buyer, I went through the various suggestions of changing the SM etc and is was strongly suggested by correspondants here that a dose of patience was the right approach.

I started by investing (no more than) 10% of my pot in any one of the new loans in the pipeline where I was happy with the loan details and any DD published on this forum.
When my post was invested I then continued to bid for new loans on the PM and to pay for them by reducing my holding in the original 10% per loans a bit at a time. I now have maybe 30 loans with no more than 4% of my pot on each and interest of 1% each month to put into new loans as and when they come up.
In that period there has only been one time (end March early April) when the SM was constipated so I just backed off from buying for a while.

This method miight not suit you but it worked for me.

My take is that the PM is there to buy what you want and you have choice. Buying on the SM there is little choice and you are buying what other folk don't want - and that could be for reasons good or bad. Most of the time the SM is great place to sell either for diversification or if you want to pull out some cash.
Even if you are not buying, it is still worthwhile keeping any eye on the liquidity of the SM on a regular basis. It is all fine most of the time but that could change and maybe your stragegy should change with it.
All the time you have loan parts for sale on the SM and they are not moving, you are not getting interest so only offer small loan parts in a stagnant SM if at all and when you get the "sold" email you can consider offering more for sale.

HTH

LW