BondMason would be better if... (ideas for improvements)

markm Thank you very much for this question, there are two ways to answer this, as we are realising a major upgrade to this aspect of the platform in the coming week(s) - the coding is now under final testing and review.

How it currently works

You have it exactly right - the 1% or 2% impacts how long before you are initially invested. 1% takes c.+50% longer than 2% to get fully allocated.  Then, if you switch from 2% to 1%, you are correct - you need for the existing 2% positions to be repaid before you then invest in 2 x 1% positions.

How it will work in the future (August 2016 onwards)

(Without giving away too much specific IP)
 - Smaller incoming clients (i.e less than £10,000) will be allocated loans much faster, without too much of a distinction in their alloation speed if they are at 2% or 1% (i.e. a couple of days difference)
 - Some of these loans will come from existing clients that are fully allocated, and moving down the scale from 2% to 1% to 0.5% etc.  This will speed up the diversification of the existing clients
 - So this is a win-win for both incoming and existing clients.

We are starting with the current settings of 2% and 1%, but may quickly introduce (i) 0.5% and/or (ii) an absolute which each client sets - i.e. £200 per investment.

I hope this helps - please ask if it is still unclear.

Thanks,

Steve

Very fair question - but no, not at all. One of the things we factored into the algorithm upgrade, is ensuring a balanced portfolio for every client. This only works if every client is treated fairly (after all, this is an FCA pre-requisite), and we believe that our algorithm enables all clients to get a better outcome.  Existing clients and incoming clients should have very similar experiences of returns and risks within their cohort (i.e. return rates and default percentages over time, based off of the time elapsed from a Client's initial investment date - regardless of the size of the client).  

paul123 We agree! We do very little that is more than 36 months. And where loans have this term (or longer) on our platform, we have often invested after the first 6-12 months have elapsed (i.e. when there is less than 36 months left).  I'll make a note to return with a stat on this in the coming days...

BM Control Panel - I don't see why not. But remember, it will be some time before the Control Panel is released (3-6 months+), and even then we are not sure at what minimum investment level it will kick in.

Early exit - we don't charge early exit fees in almost every case.  They are simply there as a deterrent for people who may try to abuse / break the platform.  Leaving in the way you suggest, wouldn't incur an exit fee.

Oh dear...cat out of bag...

We are investigating giving Clients a control panel with certain switches, i.e. :
 - Loan type: Property / Corporate / Asset Backed
 - Interest rate
 - Term
etc...

So they can tailor their portfolio a bit more (a lot more).  But this is still under discussion and A LONG WAY OFF YET AND MAY NOT HAPPEN, so I don''t want to get anyone too excited about this.  We've got lots of other initiatives we want to prioritise in the near term (next 6 months+).

Cat jumps back into bag...everyone walks away and moves on to the next item in the thread...nothing to see here...    ;-)

Still quite new to BM but so far I am impressed, especially with speaking direct to Stephen, a couple of suggestions from me.

A live online chat option would be beneficial like landbay use, this we can speak directly and have queries answered or live help

Rather than a option to invest 1 or 2 percent maybe the option to state the amount to invest in £ £10, £20, £30 and so on.

A email notification that can be sent up giving you information such at money invested, payments received, money invested on a weekly basis, I know it's all admin and cost

I know it's slow investing at the minute but I do prefer quality of loans over quantity so keep up the good work, is there anywhere that gives you information on the totals BM has currently invested and number of loans overall

Thanks

We've definitely taken on board the option to set percentages (0.5%, 1% 2% max etc) and/or absolutes (£10, £20, £30 max).  We'll discuss here, to see how we can prioritise this.

Emails: we need to do more on sending out your statements by email etc. This is coming, hopefully live in September, if not August (although our tech guys deserve a well earned holiday about now!)

Online chat: yes, a good option. We aim to get back to everyone with 24-48 hours; but this would be even better.

Please keep the suggestions coming - we appreciate them very much.

[PS: Thank you for your kind words khampson]