withnell
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Post by withnell on Nov 4, 2019 17:08:52 GMT
GS are asking us to self-classify on their website now. Based on their definitions, if you have made more than one P2P investment in the last 2 years, you could as a sophisticated investor.
Given that most retail P2P investors will have purchased across at least one platform, or indeed purchased more than one loan on one platform, this makes nearly everyone a sophisticated investor, even those who have put in a couple of hundred quid?
Statement is: "I have made more than one investment in a P2P agreement or P2P portfolio in the two years prior to the date below"
Also to class as restricted you have to agree to put no more than 10% net assets into P2P - which again makes it impossible for a retail investor who is locked in Lendy/Col/FS with amounts exceeding the 10%, but wouldn't count as HNW or sophisticated by any stretch of the imagination (eg those in Lendy for retirement income)
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Post by wildlife2 on Nov 4, 2019 17:23:06 GMT
I am so glad I must be sophisticated after all ! 
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Post by gravitykillz on Nov 5, 2019 7:36:52 GMT
I have left growth street therefore I am sophisticated.
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Post by bikeman on Nov 5, 2019 10:16:16 GMT
They're insisting this is done by 9th Nov - so what happens to existing investments if this is not done? Why the deadline? Why not just ask for a declaration when a future investment is made?
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Post by Badly Drawn Stickman on Nov 5, 2019 10:27:48 GMT
They're insisting this is done by 9th Nov - so what happens to existing investments if this is not done? Why the deadline? Why not just ask for a declaration when a future investment is made? Presumably it is connected to changes in regulations, literally only takes a few minutes and even I managed to get the right answers so shouldn't be overly challenging for anybody. I think most platforms need to do some variant of it.
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Post by Ace on Nov 5, 2019 10:47:47 GMT
They're insisting this is done by 9th Nov - so what happens to existing investments if this is not done? Why the deadline? Why not just ask for a declaration when a future investment is made? I think existing investments are allowed to roll on regardless. You just can't make new investments without classifying yourself. IMO the whole classification thing really just serves as an extra warning that there is risk involved in these investments, rather than any serious attempt to determine ones actual classification, which may serve the intended purpose of putting some wary investors off. The actual classifications don't seem well thought through. Anyone who has been conned by two p2p platforms is considered sophisticated. Compared with other posters on this platform I am certainly not a sophisticated investor, yet I easily qualify. On the other hand there are probably inhabitants of my wormery that are more sophisticated than some posters who will no doubt qualify. Anyone with moderate English comprehension can read the preamble and tick the right boxes. My only worry in this is that it may come back to bite one day in a recovery scenario.
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Post by df on Nov 5, 2019 13:31:19 GMT
They're insisting this is done by 9th Nov - so what happens to existing investments if this is not done? Why the deadline? Why not just ask for a declaration when a future investment is made? I think existing investments are allowed to roll on regardless. You just can't make new investments without classifying yourself. IMO the whole classification thing really just serves as an extra warning that there is risk involved in these investments, rather than any serious attempt to determine ones actual classification, which may serve the intended purpose of putting some wary investors off. The actual classifications don't seem well thought through. Anyone who has been conned by two p2p platforms is considered sophisticated. Compared with other posters on this platform I am certainly not a sophisticated investor, yet I easily qualify. On the other hand there are probably inhabitants of my wormery that are more sophisticated than some posters who will no doubt qualify. Anyone with moderate English comprehension can read the preamble and tick the right boxes. My only worry in this is that it may come back to bite one day in a recovery scenario. I think it will prevent many new potential investors investing on p2p platforms. I thought this check list was well designed - ensures that investors have a basic understanding of the risk and how platform operates. It was funny to label myself as "sophisticated" 
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IFISAcava
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Post by IFISAcava on Nov 5, 2019 13:36:05 GMT
They're insisting this is done by 9th Nov - so what happens to existing investments if this is not done? Why the deadline? Why not just ask for a declaration when a future investment is made? I guess in GS there is re-investment every 30 days probably can't reinvest if not certified
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Post by Ace on Nov 5, 2019 15:13:43 GMT
As a related aside, and sorry if I've posted this info before but can't recall, GS are the only platform I've encountered that showed any evidence of taking the customer understanding requirement seriously.
Roughly a year ago I made several P2P investments for my elderly mother, who was suffering from dementia at the time. It was all perfectly legal as I had financial power of attorney, but to avoid hassle I made investments in her name via the internet. GS phoned her to ensure that she understood the investments before allowing her to invest. She failed the questioning even though I was there to try and coach her through the answers. I took over the phone-call and coughed to the true situation as she was getting distressed. To their credit, GS refused to let her invest without seeing proof of my POA. Unfortunately, she passed away shortly afterwards, so I never got to test how much hassle the POA route would have been.
I don't know whether this was just a random check, or one that was targeted due to her age, but no other financial institution ever performed such checks in the 15 years that I was managing her finances.
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Post by bikeman on Nov 5, 2019 19:18:17 GMT
They're insisting this is done by 9th Nov - so what happens to existing investments if this is not done? Why the deadline? Why not just ask for a declaration when a future investment is made? I think existing investments are allowed to roll on regardless. You just can't make new investments without classifying yourself. It's the date I don't get (should have been 9 Dec not 9 Nov). Why set a date for existing investors? If I want to invest more at a later date surely I'd just do the declaration then. It's like the 9 Dec is some sort of cut off for something to happen.
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Post by df on Nov 5, 2019 20:57:39 GMT
They're insisting this is done by 9th Nov - so what happens to existing investments if this is not done? Why the deadline? Why not just ask for a declaration when a future investment is made? I guess in GS there is re-investment every 30 days probably can't reinvest if not certified In my understanding, by "new investments" they meant "new money" - not reinvestments, but I might be wrong.
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Post by df on Nov 5, 2019 21:05:24 GMT
I think existing investments are allowed to roll on regardless. You just can't make new investments without classifying yourself. It's the date I don't get (should have been 9 Dec not 9 Nov). Why set a date for existing investors? If I want to invest more at a later date surely I'd just do the declaration then. It's like the 9 Dec is some sort of cut off for something to happen. Well, it has to be a date for changes to take place, and they are giving enough notice. Doesn't really matter for existing investors - we can tick the boxes whenever we need to.
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liso
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Post by liso on Nov 6, 2019 16:44:34 GMT
I asked GS for clarification. They told me that the appropriateness test applies to new funds and to existing investments. Investors who do not complete and pass the test by 9 Dec will not have their existing investments re-invested at the end of the usual 30-day cycle.
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greatmarko
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Post by greatmarko on Nov 7, 2019 15:54:30 GMT
Interestingly, this self-certification doesn't appear to apply to Growth Street's ISA accounts.
Logging into my GS ISA account, I'm not prompted to complete any appropriateness test / investor categorisation questionnaire
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zlb
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Post by zlb on Nov 18, 2019 19:18:32 GMT
FSCS compensation isn't given according to the type of investor, so why is there a distinction even?
What's all the fuss about having to say right now? What benefit do the FCA, FSCS or the Government get from people agreeing to being described as sophisticated?
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