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Post by chielamangus on Mar 28, 2014 8:16:19 GMT
Wellesley have been excellent at addressing questions sent directly to them or raised in this forum. However .... I would like W to become proactive by having a current progress page or similar on their site. I log in fairly (and unnecessarily) frequently and check the statistics page (not prominently placed) and sometimes see the amount loaned increasing but mostly it is unchanged. I check my own bonds to see to what extent they are "loaned". Yes, I know I qualify for full interest whether my money is loaned out or not, but I suppose I want reassurance that the W business model is sustainable and that W will be earning money on all my bonds and not just half.
If others on this forum feel the same, please add to this thread. If a number of investors want such a development then I am sure that W would respond. I don't want much and certainly nothing which is time-consuming. Just some statistics (perhaps charts showing time series data) and a comment or note about short and medium term loan prospects, updated at least weekly.
What think you, everybody?
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Post by wellesleyco on Mar 28, 2014 8:34:12 GMT
Good Morning chielamangus, And indeed all forum users. Its fantastic that you mention this as I spent some time on Wednesday putting some thought into this and drafting a proposal for a few changes along these lines. Before I publish some of these ideas which are coupled with another project we are working on, it would be great to hear all comments, so we can adapt also...
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Post by cautious on Mar 28, 2014 9:03:15 GMT
Thank you for crystallising my thoughts chielamangus ; I was pondering what made me un sure about investing more in W and you have hit the nail on the head....I cannot seem to get all the info I would like without floundering about.
I can see Loans funded and security held on the first screen, capital for lending flashes up briefly, and the provision fund and interest rates / terms can be found, but then I wander about for quantity of loans held, splits into commercial and residential, , LTV....all that sort of thing which I either cannot find at all or cannot find all together on one screen.....so I give up.
I am not a sophisticated lender, probably won't understand half of the info, but it would give me reassurance that I am making more of an informed decision about any further investment I do make.
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Post by westcountryfunder on Mar 28, 2014 9:47:46 GMT
Yes, it's pleasing to know that one's funds are earning from day one, but having committed what is for me a substantial five figure sum to Wellesley for 1 - 5 years it would be reassuring to see it lent out! Half of my first tranche on 10 March is lent, but there has been no action on several tranches since. It's not that I disbelieve Wellesley in that they presumably have loans in the pipeline, but I think all of us would like to be kept informed.
I have been influenced to commit to Wellesley by their membership of the P2P Finance Association and its principles, and I reckon they could be a very satisfactory alternative to RateSetter, which is not to say that their model is identical, the fundamental difference being the nature of the loans. Generally I like what I see, but there is a lingering question mark.
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Post by henders on Mar 28, 2014 11:25:50 GMT
Couldn't agree more.
I have been impressed with Wellesley's timely response to queries but that is reactive.
I would like to see them promoting themselves more.
I joined and invested in Wellelsley because I liked the look of them but of all the 4 P2P's I have money in this is the one I am most worried about.
Remember the expression (some film?) "it's all a bit too quiet around here; I don't like it!"; well that's how I feel about Wellesley at the moment.
P2P is very competitive (I went to the AC lender day last week; excellent) and I would like to see more from Wellesley.
I will be holding back from investing more in Wellesly (although I have more to invest) until I hear a bit more from them.
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Post by Yorkie on Mar 28, 2014 12:39:20 GMT
I am in complete agreement with the posters above. It took about a month for my funds to be allocated to a loan, and they have been loaned out for a couple of weeks, but now (since a few days) all my funds have gone back to being un-allocated to a loan (0% on loan). I know that interest is paid regardless, but I am worried that the Wellesley business model is unsustainable; they cannot afford paying interest on funds that are not working for them! What is going on?
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Post by wellesleyco on Mar 28, 2014 16:47:58 GMT
chielamangus. First of all I would like to agree with the points that you have made in your post and would like to thank you again for starting off proceedings here. Our lending statistics is not prominently placed we agree. As an ongoing project of reviewing the navigation around our site we feel it is appropriate to direct more traffic to this page by making it more prominent. This shall be done in the coming weeks as we work to make these changes and test their ability to work while minimalizing disruption. While our systems for updating lending statistics and also matching funds against borrowers are still not automated, it is not very efficient and therefore with the introduction of our re-matching system in the coming weeks this will be addressed. Introducing also the points made by cautious and westcountryfunder for which we are grateful also; We aim to publish our pipeline of loans so that our lenders can see what loans we have agreed that are yet to drawdown and the amount of loans that we have offered (in sum and amount). With our model and the financing that we undertake (property bridging and development) there is very often 3-4 weeks to finalise a deal which encompasses: • Rigorous credit assessment which includes analysing the security* provided by the property the borrower’s credit background. • The legal due diligence on the property and borrower. Making sure that the property is owned by the borrower and not encumbered. • The loan completion drawdown process *- Valuation of the Property including its liquidity in the marketplace and the borrower’s exit strategy. Having taken this into account there are times that we do have to hold on to excess cash in the build up to an impending draw down. Our innovative re-matching tool will ensure that all customers have an equal ratio of lent to un-lent funds. Currently some users are fully matched, others partially and others not at all; this will change. cautious All of our loans are currently residential however if this status were to change then yes we would display this information. What we are looking to do is display on the main website a total loan book overview which is available here: www.wellesley.co.uk/how_it_works/lending_statisticsAnd then, a breakdown for each individual of: • % of their funds lent • The Number of Loans they are matched to • The average LTV of those Loans • The % of their funds lent to each property class (Residential, commercial etc) With the Weekly re-matching as this is likely to change each week that there are new loans that draw down we are looking to send the updated statistics out in an email on an individual basis. This email will enable the statistics to be viewed with you not having to search for them.(even though, by this point, they should be more prominent on the site). westcountryfunder Thank you for the comment. You make some very valid points. With the intention to publish our loan pipeline and increase the reporting as mentioned above I hope this will work to eradicate the question mark! henders I must thank you for your comments on this thread and the others across the board. I hope that as far as our reactive approach has gone you have received answers to points you have made. We of course would like to be a ‘pro-active’ firm in communication and it is as a reaction to the feedback that you have all been so kind to spare time to give that we realise these areas that do need speedy improvement. We have recently engaged with a new well know PR firm who we are working closely with to improve our communications to customers and also those who are not customers. Yorkie there is a response to this comment on the ‘Business Update’ page: www.p2pindependentforum.com/thread/456/business-model?page=3In our current situation we are witnessing an excess of High Quality loan enquiries and our pipline is showing a total of £35M of loans that are likely to complete in the next eight weeks. On that basis that we are going to need more customer cash rather than less. We are a young company still under 6 months old and to receive the insight from lenders that you all provide for us is invaluable as we adjust the system to achieve a platform that is held in the highest regards by its users. We are very grateful for the reasonable and constructive comments that are provided on this forum and wish them to continue perpetually. For anyone who wishes to contact us not through the forum we have set up feedback@wellesley.co.uk. We wish you all a very good weekend Kind Regards, Wellesley & Co.
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Post by chielamangus on Mar 28, 2014 17:45:28 GMT
Thank you, Wellesley, for your prompt reaction and reassurances. May the wind be always at your back.
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Post by henders on Mar 28, 2014 17:46:51 GMT
Thank you Wellesley for, once again, a quick and comprehensive response.
Maybe we are expecting too much too soon from such a young company but it is important, I believe, to get yourself established as soon as you can and communication is fundamental to that.
It seems, from this forum, that you have done well to get some early adopters who have invested, by their standards, significantly in your venture. I am one and am happy, and waiting, for you guys to develop that relationship with me to give me the enthusiasm, reassurance (and excitement, cos this is an exciting business, I think) to invest further.
So, don't be shy, show us what you've got!
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Post by westcountryfunder on Mar 28, 2014 17:55:01 GMT
A very good and informative reply, again. Thank you! The question mark is beginning to fade.
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Post by davee39 on Mar 28, 2014 18:06:36 GMT
One comment on the withdrawal process. After subscribing I made a small test withdrawal to see how the process worked & supplied my Bank Details when requested. Although all worked well I am paranoid about bank transfers going to the wrong account so I always like to print a copy of the withdrawal request as proof of the bank details entered. Your process is unique among all the finance companies I have dealt with in not showing the details of the account to which a withdrawal will be sent. I hope you will be able to include a visible bank account feature in the future.
Dave
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shimself
Member of DD Central
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Post by shimself on Mar 28, 2014 19:21:23 GMT
So if I had money with you which was unmatched (earning interest) is it in a client a/c, and if the business ran into trouble, would that money be lost (unsecured creditor)?
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Post by wellesleyco on Mar 29, 2014 8:06:16 GMT
shimself this is a great question to ask.
If you have money with us and the funds are not matched to a loan then the funds always sit in our segregated client account with Lloyds Bank. This bank account is held separately from our balance sheet and we have acknowledgement of trust from Lloyds Bank that there is no right of set-off against the operating bank accounts of Wellesley Group. Therefore, in the event (hopefully very unlikely) of Wellesley entering administration, your unlent funds would categorically be safely held in this bank account. Every night we reconcile our bank accounts to make sure there is never a short fall of customer funds in our segregated account. This is the way things are done in regulated investment companies and we voluntarily chose to run our business in this way since we launched.
This also gives us a good opportunity to discuss what would happen to your matched funds if for some reason we entered administration. We have a separate security trustee which exists to ensure that in the event of Wellesley entering administration, our loan book is put into orderly run-off and the loans that are still outstanding are processed as if it were business as usual. Needless to say, our P2P lenders have the 1st right to all security held on the properties they are matched to and therefore, whilst this paints a worst case scenario (and a situation we cannot foresee happening) it is likely comforting to know that we have these plans in place.
I trust this helps.
Have a pleasant weekend.
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james
Posts: 2,205
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Post by james on Apr 13, 2014 21:06:02 GMT
Good to read that you know about the FCA client money rules, perhaps not a surprise given the backgrounds of your principals. I get the impression from your post that they don't formally apply to P2x or am I misunderstanding and they do, or will eventually apply to all UK P2x providers?
You've been doing a good job of impressing me with the way your business is structured to manage risk. Please keep it up! That and quite pleasing rates are a very interesting combination when I can use your services in an ISA or even better in a SIPP. Other claims - isePankur - get my unwrapped investment money at the moment but diversification away from equities and bonds, particularly given the way some markets are at quite high levels, is of interest.
Do you happen to track the percentage of money paid by borrowers in interest fees and everything else that is paid onwards to lenders? It's a measure I'd like to see all P2x report because it's an efficiency measure much like the disclosure trends in the fund world. It's also a measure that you may do particularly well on and perhaps a useful differentiator for your business model.
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