borofan
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Post by borofan on Mar 11, 2019 10:51:24 GMT
I'm really tempted by GS mainly due to the generous RAF bonus. Apart from the usual P2P concerns, what are the pros and cons for GS compared to the bigger players? And should I hang fire until after March 29th, or will Brexit not be a factor with GS?
Cheers.
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Post by gravitykillz on Mar 11, 2019 12:46:39 GMT
I'm really tempted by GS mainly due to the generous RAF bonus. Apart from the usual P2P concerns, what are the pros and cons for GS compared to the bigger players? And should I hang fire until after March 29th, or will Brexit not be a factor with GS? Cheers. The cons are few and far between. My only concern is the weak provision fund. 3.6% at the moment. I have around 6.5k invested at the standard 5.3%. Otherwise this 30 day account seems pretty good. There are options for continuous reinvestment or for not reinvesting. You will not be able to withdraw until the end of the 30 day period.
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Post by gravitykillz on Mar 11, 2019 12:48:43 GMT
Not sure about the Brexit question i am sure all p2p companies have had ample time to prepare for this issue.
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Post by df on Mar 11, 2019 16:05:52 GMT
I'm really tempted by GS mainly due to the generous RAF bonus. Apart from the usual P2P concerns, what are the pros and cons for GS compared to the bigger players? And should I hang fire until after March 29th, or will Brexit not be a factor with GS? Cheers. Apart from usual p2p concerns, I've had no problems with GS. 5.3% is delivered as promised. Virtually no cash drag (there was a little bit about two years ago). Exit is easy (1 month from initial investment). Communication is good. No maintenance required. PF is working fine so far - no repayment delays, no loss of capital.
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ceejay
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Post by ceejay on Mar 12, 2019 10:40:53 GMT
Not sure about the Brexit question i am sure all p2p companies have had ample time to prepare for this issue. I don't see Brexit as being an issue for the platform directly - it may be a risk for their borrowers, depending on who they are. GS's customers are (AFAIK) all small-medium businesses who need a bit of cash support. The impact of a bad Brexit, should one occur, on them could be anything from mildly positive to catastrophic, depending on what their business is. FWIW I think GS is probably more exposed to this risk than some other platforms, given their borrower base. As for the likelihood of a rough Brexit - well, your guess is as good as mine! It seems unlikely, but I'm acutely aware that this belief is predicated on an assumption of rational behaviour from those involved, which hasn't been evident thus far.
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mjc
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Post by mjc on Mar 12, 2019 11:08:22 GMT
I'm really tempted by GS mainly due to the generous RAF bonus. Apart from the usual P2P concerns, what are the pros and cons for GS compared to the bigger players? And should I hang fire until after March 29th, or will Brexit not be a factor with GS? Cheers. Apart from usual p2p concerns, I've had no problems with GS. 5.3% is delivered as promised. Virtually no cash drag (there was a little bit about two years ago). Exit is easy (1 month from initial investment). Communication is good. No maintenance required. PF is working fine so far - no repayment delays, no loss of capital. The big Con for me is the no IFISA problem, as all my p2p is with ISA funds. however, as you point out the pretty reliable 30day access I should think again. ie I use Marcus for short term spare cash (after any 5% bank offerings on a limited sum), but after a small cash buffer for day to day bills, medium term cash could be in GS. Especially with the 10% bribe for £2k held for a year. 4th Way say “Bad debts have been paid for by the reserve fund, almost entirely out of borrower contributions to the fund. This leaves a large amount of additional founder money still in the fund. As a result of the above, no lenders have come close to losing any money. When a loan goes bad, Growth Street has typically recovered over half the amount back from the borrower. That is pretty good and compares well to personal loans or unsecured business loans, but for Growth Street’ type of loans we would like and expect to see that, over time, Growth Street recovers more bad debt to help top up the reserve fund further.” Im sure it’ll be a dumb Q, but what’s RAF. Refer A Friend?
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r00lish67
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Post by r00lish67 on Mar 12, 2019 11:23:02 GMT
The big Con for me is the no IFISA problem, as all my p2p is with ISA funds. however, as you point out the pretty reliable 30day access I should think again. ie I use Marcus for short term spare cash (after any 5% bank offerings on a limited sum), but after a small cash buffer for day to day bills, medium term cash could be in GS. Especially with the 10% bribe for £2k held for a year. 4th Way say “Bad debts have been paid for by the reserve fund, almost entirely out of borrower contributions to the fund. This leaves a large amount of additional founder money still in the fund. As a result of the above, no lenders have come close to losing any money. When a loan goes bad, Growth Street has typically recovered over half the amount back from the borrower. That is pretty good and compares well to personal loans or unsecured business loans, but for Growth Street’ type of loans we would like and expect to see that, over time, Growth Street recovers more bad debt to help top up the reserve fund further.” Im sure it’ll be a dumb Q, but what’s RAF. Refer A Friend? Yes, it's refer a friend. I'm not sure I can match up what 4th way are saying with GS's own statistics On the first bit I've put in bold - for 2017 loans, claims to the fund exceeded borrower contributions by over 25%. For 2018 loans, claims are about 80% higher than borrower contributions (£515k contributed, £922 claimed). On the second, I'm totally mystified by that. Looking at GS's table, all-time recoveries total £44k whilst all-time claims are about £1.25m! Why 4th Way would claim they've recovered over half of that from borrowers I'm really not clear. Unless I'm misinterpreting something? edit: In answer to the OP borofan the risks I see are: 1) Relatively new still, very small borrower base, not increasing dramatically quickly. 2) Heavily loss-making, propped up by founder contributions. 3) As with all P2P platforms, Brexit could increase defaults (or may not). 4) Very low recoveries so far, indicating security is not proving particularly valuable. Despite all of the above, I do invest a little with them. They have an innovative approach and support from their founders and new funding lines. Not one I'd go big on though, personally.
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Post by df on Mar 12, 2019 11:35:45 GMT
Apart from usual p2p concerns, I've had no problems with GS. 5.3% is delivered as promised. Virtually no cash drag (there was a little bit about two years ago). Exit is easy (1 month from initial investment). Communication is good. No maintenance required. PF is working fine so far - no repayment delays, no loss of capital. The big Con for me is the no IFISA problem, as all my p2p is with ISA funds. however, as you point out the pretty reliable 30day access I should think again. ie I use Marcus for short term spare cash (after any 5% bank offerings on a limited sum), but after a small cash buffer for day to day bills, medium term cash could be in GS. Especially with the 10% bribe for £2k held for a year. 4th Way say “Bad debts have been paid for by the reserve fund, almost entirely out of borrower contributions to the fund. This leaves a large amount of additional founder money still in the fund. As a result of the above, no lenders have come close to losing any money. When a loan goes bad, Growth Street has typically recovered over half the amount back from the borrower. That is pretty good and compares well to personal loans or unsecured business loans, but for Growth Street’ type of loans we would like and expect to see that, over time, Growth Street recovers more bad debt to help top up the reserve fund further.” Im sure it’ll be a dumb Q, but what’s RAF. Refer A Friend?I guess that's what was meant by RAF. 10% bribe for 2k is a very good offer, I think. I went for previous bribe, which was 6% for 5k - still good, makes 11.3% total for a year. But even without bonuses I'm quite happy to keep some cash working on GS. I also use AC's 30day - similar rate and quick access (well, quick enough for me).
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Post by gravitykillz on Mar 12, 2019 12:51:39 GMT
You should also be aware the business has recently had a huge cash investment. Not sure if any of it went into the provision fund. But the company has enough cash to keep it going.
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borofan
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Post by borofan on Mar 12, 2019 14:09:34 GMT
Thanks for the replies. It gives me something to think about.
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borofan
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Post by borofan on Mar 12, 2019 14:26:00 GMT
Yes, I meant Refer a Friend, when I put RAF.
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Post by gravitykillz on Mar 12, 2019 14:55:22 GMT
Either 4th ways data is obsolete or it is sponsored by gs. I dont really trust 4th way i prefer the unbiased opinions on this forum.
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cwah
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Post by cwah on Mar 13, 2019 9:30:47 GMT
You should also be aware the business has recently had a huge cash investment. Not sure if any of it went into the provision fund. But the company has enough cash to keep it going. Where did he get the huge cash investment? Link?
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Post by gravitykillz on Mar 13, 2019 9:57:32 GMT
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Post by gravitykillz on Mar 13, 2019 10:06:41 GMT
Not sure if it was wise but i invested more money in gs mainly as this investment boosted my confidence in the business.
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