dermot
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Post by dermot on Nov 2, 2015 14:21:58 GMT
I'm looking at parking some cash in SS but there doesn't seem to be a great deal of information about the mechanics from a lender's point of view (unless I've missed something).
Having created an account and looking around just now, all the live loans would seem to be fully funded and there is -6,950 of funding remaining which means - what, a little overfunding from the small negative %s I see on some investments?
So how (and after how long) do I get some cash assigned to a loan?
Looking at the pipeline, there doesn't seem to be any time table for forthcoming opportunities, so I'm not sure how sensible it is to park cash, earning no interest, and wait for an unknown period to get it earning.
If I make an application for prefunding in the pipeline, do I have to have cash sitting already in the system, or can I transfer it in as soon as a deal is made, having secured my place in the queue?
An idiot's guide for newbies would be very helpful!
Thanks in advance for any useful info.
Dermot
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oldgrumpy
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Post by oldgrumpy on Nov 2, 2015 14:27:28 GMT
Hi Dermot. Ypu don't need to put any money in the platform until you need to invest it. You can prebid on pipeline loans, and change your settings at will before the loan becomes live. When the loan becomes live you will be allocated some or all of what you wanted, and asked to settle by bank transfer the exact amount you have been allocated within 24 hours. It's all quite painless really.  When new loans go live, a lot of people sell parts of earlier loans, which you can buy to spread your risks. They show green on the loans list. For this reason you may choose to add a further "float" into your account, as this is only available for immediate payment. PS You can ignore all that, because that's for idiots, not you  |
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Post by savingstream on Nov 2, 2015 14:35:09 GMT
Hi Dermot. Ypu don't need to put any money in the platform until you need to invest it. You can prebid on pipeline loans, and change your settings at will before the loan becomes live. When the loan becomes live you will be allocated some or all of what you wanted, and asked to settle by bank transfer the exact amount you have been allocated within 24 hours. It's all quite painless really. When new loans go live, a lot of people sell parts of earlier loans, which you can buy to spread your risks. They show green on the loans list. For this reason you may choose to add a further "float" into your account, as this is only available for immediate payment. PS You can ignore all that, because that's for idiots, not you Thanks for that Oldgrumpy. Couldn't have said it better ourselves.
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Investboy
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Trying to recover from P2P revolution
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Post by Investboy on Nov 2, 2015 15:04:48 GMT
... An idiot's guide for newbies would be very helpful! ... You're reading it! As a newbie myself I find this forum a great resource, wealth or information and friendly community. Welcome to SS and the forum.
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elgerod
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Post by elgerod on Nov 2, 2015 15:56:27 GMT
Friendly? Throw in a few bananas and then you'll see what OG is really like!!  |
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dermot
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Post by dermot on Nov 2, 2015 15:57:28 GMT
Thanks very much all!
I'm up for retirement next year and have a chunk of cash that I want to convert to income to supplement my pensions, having already filled up cash ISAs and Santander current accounts with a 'rainy day' account at Paragon.
I'm considering I might go as far as 10 - 20% into SS. That way, my overall drawdown would be comfortably below the average overall natural yield.
I'd been thinking of taking out offers spread over various lengths of time (hopefully maturing at reasonably regular-ish intervals) and as each one matures, taking what I need for that month or two and reinvesting the rest to carry forward.
Does that seem like a sensible strategy?
Thus far, I've been relatively 'hands-off' during my working life as far as investments are concerned, just going for longer term capital growth - now retirement is looming, I know I need to take a bit more active control to provide a regular top-up to my pension.
My only P2P experience so far is Ratesetter with its fairly simple 'fire and forget' methodology (unless you dynamically set your own rate to avoid the 'race to the bottom' market rate issue at the moment)
I see that there is an SMS alert option on SS, so presumably, I can register my interest via the pipeline tab and, so long as I act within 24 hours, just shovel the appropriate amount of money across on demand.
I had pushed a couple of hundred quid across in anticipation, but currently have no home for it - should I leave it there and hang on for a while, or take it back?
Dermot
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registerme
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Post by registerme on Nov 2, 2015 16:01:56 GMT
Unless you want to absolutely be on the button in case SM parts arise there is no need to keep funds on SS. As per oldgrumpy's post about the pre-funding of new pipeline loans, you state how much you want to buy in advance but don't actually have to have the funds on the platform until the loan goes live, at which point you have 24 hours to make a BACS transfer.
One difference between SS and other platforms is that there tend to be fewer loans live at any one point in time, they tend to be chunkier, and have relatively shorter terms, so it may be difficult to get the "maturing at reasonably regular intervals" you desire (though obviously it is in the platform's interest to keep as much of your money as it can on the platform so....).
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ablender
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Post by ablender on Nov 2, 2015 16:03:25 GMT
Trade in the SM opens just after midnight usually.
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oldgrumpy
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Post by oldgrumpy on Nov 2, 2015 16:36:30 GMT
"I see that there is an SMS alert option on SS"
They are very efficient at sending these out.
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nsinvestor
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Post by nsinvestor on Nov 2, 2015 16:58:17 GMT
Unless you want to absolutely be on the button in case SM parts arise there is no need to keep funds on SS. As per oldgrumpy's post about the pre-funding of new pipeline loans, you state how much you want to buy in advance but don't actually have to have the funds on the platform until the loan goes live, at which point you have 24 hours to make a BACS transfer. One difference between SS and other platforms is that there tend to be fewer loans live at any one point in time, they tend to be chunkier, and have relatively shorter terms, so it may be difficult to get the "maturing at reasonably regular intervals" you desire (though obviously it is in the platform's interest to keep as much of your money as it can on the platform so....). Dermot - with a relatively low number of high value loans, I agree that it will be a challenge to construct a maturity ladder with regular intervals. The good news, however, is that the secondary market (SM) is healthy and efficient with loan parts put up for sale snapped up extremely quickly. To that end, you will be able to sell down at regular intervals to realise funds .... all assuming that the high SM demand continues.
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dermot
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Post by dermot on Nov 2, 2015 18:09:16 GMT
Dermot - with a relatively low number of high value loans, I agree that it will be a challenge to construct a maturity ladder with regular intervals. The good news, however, is that the secondary market (SM) is healthy and efficient with loan parts put up for sale snapped up extremely quickly. To that end, you will be able to sell down at regular intervals to realise funds .... all assuming that the high SM demand continues. I see, thanks for the SM tip - in practice, even 3 or 4 maturing per year would be fine, I have enough buffer savings to fill the gaps, but a mixture sounds even better. How often (I appreciate this is something of a moving target ...) do new loan opportunities tend to come up - weekly, monthly? Now SMS is set up, will wait to see what happens on the secondary market - good thing we are supposed to need less sleep as we age, if a lot of the action is after midnight! Dermot
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SteveT
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Post by SteveT on Nov 2, 2015 18:54:57 GMT
Averaged over the last year or so, it's probably relatively close to 1 per week. But that disguises lengthy periods of inactivity (eg over much of the summer) and large spikes in new loan listings (as in September).
Personally, I wouldn't bother scrapping for SM parts in the short term. Simpler to wait until the next large new loan is launched and watch half the board go green in minutes (easy diversification pickings)
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ramblin rose
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“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” — Alphonse Karr
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Post by ramblin rose on Nov 2, 2015 20:35:25 GMT
Now SMS is set up, will wait to see what happens on the secondary market - good thing we are supposed to need less sleep as we age, if a lot of the action is after midnight! But bear in mind that you won't get SMS for the SM - just new loans going live. As SteveT says above - you'll have huge opportunities for picking up SM loans whenever a new loan goes live as lenders sell out of parts of their earlier loans to diversify and recycle.
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Post by pepperpot on Nov 2, 2015 20:54:57 GMT
<snip> ...all the live loans would seem to be fully funded and there is -6,950 of funding remaining which means - what, a little overfunding from the small negative %s I see on some investments? <snip> The negative amounts result from two investors purchasing at the same time, but the system doesn't check who was first before allocating to both. The over funded amount is usually unwound on a manual basis (afaik it's manual) so sticks around till it gets looked at, which can be weeks in some cases. This should get rectified in the long prophecised new website. mods - could we get this thread pinned to help reduce the repetitive questions? (no disrespect to anyone on this thread...)
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james
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Post by james on Nov 2, 2015 22:17:42 GMT
I'd been thinking of taking out offers spread over various lengths of time (hopefully maturing at reasonably regular-ish intervals) and as each one matures, taking what I need for that month or two and reinvesting the rest to carry forward. ... Does that seem like a sensible strategy? The shortish maturities at the newish platforms mean that you just can't easily build a ladder for longer term annuity matching, but instead must reinvest regularly. You should look at at least SavingStream, MoneyThing and Ablrate of the newish platform selection There's a lot of availability in the up to a year range from the combination of those three platforms but not so much beyond a year, I think most of that has been at Ablrate in the that list. FundingSecure also offers loans with typically six month terms but I've insufficient knowledge to comment on them. Of course the good news is that the short maturities make it quite easy to just hold to maturity and get the money out reasonably rapidly. The combination of rates with quite easy exit timelines is pretty nice, just takes ongoing management work to keep your money invested. Be sure to diversify quite widely across platforms. You have no FSCS fraud protection in the P2P world and diversification across platforms is how you protect yourself from that problem happening at any one platform.
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