applets
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Post by applets on Oct 2, 2017 18:55:09 GMT
I have never understood why some investors think they have a right to invest whatever they want and if they can't the company must do something about it. Unbolted is pretty different to the others sites on here and although it has probably my smallest investment due to being unable to invest large amounts it is probably my favorite site. The risk/reward ratio works nicely for investors and there is a decent deal flow so I can steadly increase my investments over time. We have seen it time and again that sites have grown to meet the demands of investors and just look how well they have worked out, the only one at the moment making a decent effort of it is MT. Greed from investors and companies have caused the majority of the issues that we see in P2P. Just throw the odd thousand at it now and again and your balance will steadily increase over time. Surely its better for a company to have less loans but less losses then trying to find borrowers for funds, as we have all seen how that works out. I am not sure that investors do think they have a right to invest whatever they want. The OP was expressing concern about the growth in his cash balance and asking for information on Unbolted's future plans.
If you have been a long term investor with Unbolted you will be aware that the number of new loans has in fact increased considerably. However, this growth appears to have been more than matched by an increase in the number of investors/ new money. The result is that as loans come up for renewal, automatic investment generally results in a smaller allocation than you had before. If the loan is less than £1400 or so, and therefore subject to random allocation, then you may not get any loan part at renewal or, at best, just £5. This unfortunately contributes to cash balances increasing.
Certainly, for me, the period between topping up my balance with new funds has lengthened in recent months.
My concern is that demand will continue to outpace supply and the number of loans subject to random allocation/ £5 allocations will increase. Funds deployed on the platform will therefore continue to fall naturally.
It may well be that the current situation is acceptable to the majority and the prospect of a well diversified portfolio of £5 loan parts is what they are seeking. However, even Unbolted has recognised the need to introduce business loans and auction loans as a means to grow their business/ help meet demand from investors. To date, these new format loans have performed well albeit without the benefit of the protection funds. They will probably not be for everyone therefore, but for some they may provide an alternative place to invest slightly larger sums alongside the original pawn loans that we all like and want to continue.
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 26, 2017 8:05:57 GMT
With the absence of new loans and possible loans dropping out of the picture, the pipeline appears to be flowing in the wrong direction.
New loans should not be at the expense of quality, but with redemptions and defaults the opportunities to invest new money with diversification on MT is becoming extremely difficult. Would suggest focusing on diversifying cross-platform as there's never really enough on one to be diversified, and you'll then be mitigating platform failure risk too. But, yes, would definitely like to see some more good loans as well. Thanks. I am already spread across a number of platforms for the reasons you suggest. Unfortunately, MoneyThing is not alone in sourcing good quality new loans at present, but they seem to be going through a particularly slow period at present which is exacerbated by the recent defaults and repayments.
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 26, 2017 6:43:28 GMT
With the absence of new loans and possible loans dropping out of the picture, the pipeline appears to be flowing in the wrong direction.
New loans should not be at the expense of quality, but with redemptions and defaults the opportunities to invest new money with diversification on MT is becoming extremely difficult.
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 26, 2017 6:10:33 GMT
Having given further thought, I wonder if it would be helpful for Unbolted to group the various pawn loans each day and allocate parts in the grouped loans each day. Depending on the total value of the loans each day, this may permit all lenders to receive a daily allocation instead of the current random £5 approach. With the amount of money sitting uninvested in lender accounts, Unbolted would know with a high degree of certainty that the funds are there each day to cover any approved loans.
With advice on MSE from a leading poster for a cautious investor to put £13k to £21k into Unbolted over a six month period, it is inevitable that the current over supply of funds will only continue or get worse.
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 25, 2017 19:28:32 GMT
I am not sure that the number of new loans has changed that much in recent months. However, I am guessing that the growing publicity for Unbolted in various places has significantly increased the number of lenders. The introduction of £5 loan parts being issued to a random selection of lenders is a response to this growth and has certainly reduced the number of loans that each lender can participate in (I have so far only achieved a 35% allocation). As the platform's popularity increases so the threshold for £5 loan parts will increase - already it looks as if any loan under £1400 is subject to random allocation. It is not surprising therefore that there are now many days when repayments exceed what can be invested.
Where does Unbolted go from here? By their vary nature, many of the items pawned are of relative low value and any increase in their number will just lead to more randomly allocated £5 loan parts. Perhaps more business loans? Although these of course are not (currently) subject to any of the protection arrangements.
Sadly, I think the best days of Unbolted may be behind us.
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 20, 2017 19:24:54 GMT
Stick with 11;00 the scatter gun approach does not work, the majority dont know where we stand. Anyway who is running your company; the management or a reaction to a few emails? Reacting to a few emails looks amateurish. You decide the posting time and stick with it. If you want to find out what your lenders think then email them all with the question but dont react to a couple of emails.......please While I can see the benefits of a uniform time for posting loans, 11am does not suit everyone. Some investors in p2p do go to work/ don't have access to a computer during the day (and don't have mobile internet). It has often been the case of picking up the crumbs that no one else wants in the evening or, given the current situation on FS, just not lending on new loans. I hesitate to suggest a uniform evening posting time as this will not be suitable for many others.
Posting at different times seems a reasonable compromise to give everyone the chance to be involved in p2p (although I appreciate that it does not work for some).
(My view is in addition to those who have emailed support)
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 16, 2017 9:09:06 GMT
Only two random since the start of the new arrangements.
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 12, 2017 14:32:31 GMT
While supporting the decision to break a loan into tranches to improve liquidity, this appears to have been undermined by the decision in BL00051 to 54 to group purchases in different tranches for cashback purposes. Now we have four tranches with relatively large queues to sell. This can only deter many from lending in loans with cashback.
I wonder if the time has therefore come for Collateral to consider offering a choice between cashback or slightly higher interest loan tranches. Alternatively, as suggested by some others, perhaps cashback should only be payable when a loan repays.
Cashback is obviously very attractive - particularly for the big hitters. However, when large chunks of these loans are then returned to the SM on drawdown, the market can grind to a halt (as appears to be the case at the moment). Collateral obviously need to strike a balance between the needs of the various categories of lenders and the need to fill loans quickly. There might, however, just be room for a small shift in policy that better meets the needs of everyone.
(Declaration of interest - Yes, I have an interest in the loans in question, but no interest in selling at the current time)
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 12, 2017 13:55:59 GMT
Selling slowly now. 15% been on for 4 days. Half full. Where has the enthusiasm gone? Although more has shifted today, there are still a number of tranches still to come.
My own view is that, for the size of platform, this has been too large a loan. Yes, there will be some lenders who will be happy to plough large sums into a 15% loan with countless tranches but, for many lenders, sensible risk management dictates a limit to how much is put into any one loan/ borrower. The fact that the current tranches in this loan are in effect 3rd charges only adds to the risk.
Personally, I reached my limit in this loan some time ago and, no matter how much I want to support Collateral, I will not be taking up any further tranches in this one.
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 12, 2017 6:45:09 GMT
No emails at all yesterday... including nothing for cash deposited. Did anyone get an email on any topic, random or otherwise on Monday? Emails were working for me.
However, of what I assume to be the eight £5 random loan parts since last Wednesday, I have received just one. This rate of success may well improve over time, but as the number of lenders increases so the number of loans subject to random allocation is likely to increase. I fear that the platform may become a victim of its own success....
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 7, 2017 17:23:27 GMT
Still nothing random yet. Hopefully, things will improve .....
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 7, 2017 14:42:16 GMT
A little disappointing news on the fee front, but can understand the additional administrative costs arising from manual processing of the increase in trading.
Some odd trading patterns may not help where the same person appears to buy parts in a loan and shortly afterwards sell other parts in the same loan. Cannot see an obvious reason for this, but certainly increases the work for whoever is processing sales. I took a small amount of all the loans when I joined. When my ISA transfer came through and now that I am more familiar with the platform I have been taking a larger amount of all the loans and then selling the smaller amount from my standard account as there is no point in holding both. I managed to bag a chunk of the Broadway yesterday so now have a full house bar the 2 latest. This is the only way of 'transferring' the loans into the IFISA (that I know of, without having multiple standard accounts). Yes, obvious if I had thought about it a bit more .....
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 7, 2017 9:42:25 GMT
Nothing random as yet, but as I was one of those who struggled to be around when smaller loans were put up for sale I am not really affected by the change. In any event, while £5 loan parts help build a diversified portfolio the interest return is not really worth losing too much sleep over. If the new arrangements reduce the administrative work and costs for the platform then perhaps they are to be welcomed.
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 7, 2017 9:36:30 GMT
I fear that some of the posts may have dissuaded Ed from posting on the Board. No pipeline update, no existing loans update ..... Email and support updates on the website now appear to be the path forward, but perhaps this is the right approach no matter how much we appreciated the engagement on here.
Interesting that the apparently imminent loans in the last pipeline update have yet to come to fruition, but new car loans that have not previously been mentioned are now launched (as welcome as they are).
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applets
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Post by applets on Sept 7, 2017 9:29:58 GMT
A little disappointing news on the fee front, but can understand the additional administrative costs arising from manual processing of the increase in trading.
Some odd trading patterns may not help where the same person appears to buy parts in a loan and shortly afterwards sell other parts in the same loan. Cannot see an obvious reason for this, but certainly increases the work for whoever is processing sales.
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