j1
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Post by j1 on Feb 20, 2019 21:47:43 GMT
The shine has rubbed off a lot of the big players. Knowing what we know now, which platforms are still worthy of our money?
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Post by akagi on Feb 20, 2019 23:23:29 GMT
It really depends what you are looking for I guess. Each platform has pros and cons and your selection has to depends on what you are looking for in P2P
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delboy
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Post by delboy on Feb 20, 2019 23:33:17 GMT
For me at the moment, liquidity is key. I have been rather shaken by the slowdown in selling on FC from literally minutes to several weeks. Assetz QA gets my vote.
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Post by akagi on Feb 20, 2019 23:43:38 GMT
Problem is you don't realise how liquid/illiquid a platform is until you actually try and sell your investments...
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Post by Ace on Feb 21, 2019 1:35:38 GMT
IMO the key for liquidity in the self select platforms is to pick one with a functioning variable priced SM. You can't guarantee getting out unscathed, but you've a much better chance of escaping if unexpectedly required.
For the black or white boxed accounts, the key to liquidity would be picking one with a well capitalised and functioning PF.
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delboy
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Post by delboy on Feb 21, 2019 8:15:42 GMT
For me at the moment, liquidity is key. I have been rather shaken by the slowdown in selling on FC from literally minutes to several weeks. Assetz QA gets my vote. Assetz QA is certainly an amazing product, currently with instant liquidity but if sentiment changes it could be just like any number of other platforms/accounts. Plus there are growing suspicions that assetz access accounts are hiding/holding many distressed loans. One really bad newspaper article could change things overnight. Do you really think you’ll be faster than everyone else? Two or three years ago, lendy also had near instant liquidity remember... That’s a fair point but it’s one that applies across all platforms. Accepting that any platform is at the mercy of bad sentiment triggered by an event or series of events (bad press etc.) is there any account more liquid than AC QA at the moment? Genuine question - I would like to diversify more.
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rscal
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Post by rscal on Feb 21, 2019 8:22:02 GMT
The stock market is always great from liquidity of course. So there seems to be general a trade off between capital stability and the access to it
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Post by Butch Cassidy on Feb 21, 2019 9:08:23 GMT
My only remaining P2P platforms with any significant lending investment are: For SME lending; MT, Abl, LC & Rebs (rates still reflect the risks involved) & consumer lending; Welendus (still early stages but doing everything right so far).
I also have equity stakes in AC, Welendus & Crowdproperty as I think they will still be profitable investments even when platform lending is far less attractive.
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Post by akagi on Feb 21, 2019 9:29:20 GMT
Maybe experienced members could rank the main platforms based on liquidity or other factors? So that every member know what to pick depending on what they are looking for in p2p
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IFISAcava
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Post by IFISAcava on Feb 21, 2019 9:52:26 GMT
Maybe experienced members could rank the main platforms based on liquidity
I've said this once and I'll say it a hundred times .... you do not go to P2P for its liquidity.
You don't need to be "experienced" to figure out that P2P is a behind closed-doors operation. Each P2P is a law unto their own, each with their own entirely independent and private secondary market with rules made up by the individual P2P platforms on a whim.
In my opinion there is no "best" P2P platform, rather its a case of picking the "least worst". They're all as bad as each other in many respects, and regrettably will remain to do so until the regulator gets off their backside and finally gets a firm grip on the whole shambles before too many people get hurt.
As rscal says. If you want true liquidity then for 101 reasons, the stockmarket is the only answer. The only time you might have difficulty with liquidity on the stockmarket is with obscure low-volume nanocaps .... but then one might argue you shouldn't really be fishing around those territories unless you know what you're doing anyway. but liquidity isn't the only factor to be taken into account. One doesn't want to have all ones eggs in the stockmarket basket, and some property, fixed income, cash, etc (the etc in my case including whisky, a truly "liquid" investment!) are all an important part of a diversified portfolio. In which case it is perfectly reasonable to want the most liquidity within a given class of assets. Property and p2p are always going to be less liquid at some times, but avoiding them leaves you only with stocks and bonds, no? Which swaps liquidity for diversity, and in the case of stocks necessitates a long term view to counter market volatility. But happy to have a counter argument as to how to better maintain diversity and a decent income without using P2P or other less liquid investments.
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hazellend
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Post by hazellend on Feb 21, 2019 10:25:16 GMT
If you need to have guaranteed liquidity (even at a loss) you should stick with equities. With equities you should only invest for the long term 10 years + It’s probably safest to have a similar view with P2P. With P2P people mostly want liquidity with the  loans or ones that are showing signs of distress. That just isn’t possible on any P2P site now that the honeymoon phase is over and investor base is more experienced Even variable SM won’t shift a duff loan at 25% discount. |
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pom
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Post by pom on Feb 21, 2019 13:37:54 GMT
Maybe experienced members could rank the main platforms based on liquidity or other factors? So that every member know what to pick depending on what they are looking for in p2p If you're looking for advice go pay a professional, although good luck finding any IFA who'll promote p2p. You should not be looking for advice here, we are not qualified to give it and our circumstances will be very different to yours.
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pom
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Post by pom on Feb 21, 2019 14:00:59 GMT
Just for the record, its not about "promoting", but about regulatory requirements as an IFA.
IFAs, like anyone else on the Retail side of the financial world are bound by increasing amounts of regulatory requirements.
Part of that includes KYC.
As I said earlier, if people were being truthful about their personal circumstances - which I would hope they would be when sat infront of an IFA - it is unlikely that many people who've dived into the P2P pool on an independent basis would meet the regulatory KYC hurdle of Suitablility (i.e. Risk Appetite, Risk Tolerance and all that jazz).
Suitability requirements are there for a reason. To stop people who can't afford it getting badly burnt in high-risk areas such as P2P.
Written in a hurry and not sure in hindsight why I chose "promote" ...more like "advise on." Long term readers of this forum will know my IFA is "reluctantly" accepting of my investing in p2p on the basis that I can quite afford to do so, but there is no way he'd ever give me any advice about it, his only interest (when I mention COL or LY he had no clue what I was talking about) is to occasionally ask me for updates on amount invested and income earned as part of a wider review, and whether I'm still happy with the current risk levels. I think we're of very similar opinions here!
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borofan
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Post by borofan on Feb 21, 2019 14:09:25 GMT
Doesn't make sense that the biggest players (Zopa and Ratesetter) are the safest pair of hands?
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registerme
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Post by registerme on Feb 21, 2019 16:41:43 GMT
Doesn't make sense that the biggest players (Zopa and Ratesetter) are the safest pair of hands? RBS was one of the biggest banks (by assets) in the world.....
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loans or ones that are showing signs of distress. That just isn’t possible on any P2P site now that the honeymoon phase is over and investor base is more experienced 
