|
Post by khampson on Jan 16, 2017 16:45:06 GMT
I have seen plenty of people unhappy about the set up of FC in recent months and that they do not like the new loan banding, so does anyone still like it around here? Seem to be a lot of people moving to other platforms but are you still happy here?
Looking forw to people's opnions
Keith
|
|
adrianc
Member of DD Central
Posts: 10,019
Likes: 5,147
|
Post by adrianc on Jan 16, 2017 16:48:27 GMT
I'm happy.
I've very nearly cleared out, my last two unsellable loans threaten to repay soon, and even my defaults are steadily ticking down with recoveries.
I can't wait until I'm ecstatic...
|
|
oldgrumpy
Member of DD Central
Posts: 5,087
Likes: 3,233
|
Post by oldgrumpy on Jan 16, 2017 16:50:18 GMT
I fry my opnions with a bit of raglic and tomota and have then with suasages and mash foll owed by a nabana fritter. Sorry - I'm feeling silly cos I've just taken another £600 out of FC and there's less than £2k (more than half of it "frozen") left in from a former £38K. Good news - they're still chasing Breath of Fresh Air which was my first FC default in 2014!! Bad news - they've given up on Crappy ap Scrappy, but I only had £20 on him - Welsh git!!
|
|
Steerpike
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,977
Likes: 1,687
Member is Online
|
Post by Steerpike on Jan 16, 2017 16:54:02 GMT
I have very little invested in FC now, less than 10% of what I once had, however, my just under 4 year XIRR is 11.49% so I am certainly not unhappy.
|
|
SteveT
Member of DD Central
Posts: 6,875
Likes: 7,924
|
Post by SteveT on Jan 16, 2017 16:54:52 GMT
I sold the last of my sell-able FC loans some months ago and emptied the account (which was well into 6 figures at its peak). The relentless rise of the bots has rendered manual bidding a waste of time and I'd much rather get proper "loanbook average" exposure via FC's investment trust (FCIF, held tax free in my ISA) than get the rubbish via Autobid. Even better, my FCIF stake is at a paper 8% capital gain, on top of dividends
|
|
andyp
Stubborn Yorkshireman from the rhubarb triangle
Posts: 150
Likes: 115
|
Post by andyp on Jan 16, 2017 17:10:55 GMT
I'm probably marked down as a moaner by many FC followers but I prefer to think of myself offering constructive criticism.
I stick to property loans so the rebanding has had minimal impact on me. I was amazed that people were willing to invest at the old rates let alone the new ones, rubbish returns and negligable security. Give me a building or land that has a legal charge over it any day.
I'm pretty happy at present and increasing the funds invested. After a year or so of lender pressure, FC have shown signs of upping their game with regards to property. They are now automatically adding 2% to rates the moment a loan goes overdue and in one case (Borehamwood) got the borrower to cough up some interim interest. They are also showing signs of anticipating delays ahead of time rather than being surprised when the loan repayment doesn't appear. They are by no means perfect but things seem to be progressing in the right direction.
|
|
|
Post by Butch Cassidy on Jan 16, 2017 17:17:17 GMT
Whilst I am far from happy; joke risk banding, impossible PM due to not owning a bot - I still have a good 5 figure portfolio running, across 160 SME loans currently, more than half the value comprised of "profit" - I don't use FC for any property loans. I now only buy on the SM & do transfer excess funds to other platforms as & when a substantial uninvested cash surplus builds up.
Primary reasons for staying; very large number of loan opportunities - OK most are either under priced or look toxic but there are still enough decent ones to absorb my interest &/or repayments, highly liquid SM usually fairly instant at par but can still get good premiums on older loan stock, have an annualised net return of just over 11% over 4 years+, & whilst defaults have ticked up since investing almost exclusively in D & E bands it is still manageable & previous recoveries have been surprisingly good.
I would say though that if I was to start from scratch now my portfolio would be either a lot smaller or I might deem it not worth the effort & move to MT, Abl or Col.
|
|
blender
Member of DD Central
Posts: 5,719
Likes: 4,272
|
Post by blender on Jan 16, 2017 17:20:17 GMT
They're not interested in constructive criticism any longer. It is just a matter of looking out for property loans at 10% or more and selling before you are stuck with them - others can have my extra 2%. Unfortunately I have had to sell another 3.5K today as '1 repayment left' looms, and I reckon it will have to come out of FC. Probably to Ablrate's promised 14% second charge. FC cannot even do an ISA as intended.
|
|
baz657
Member of DD Central
Posts: 500
Likes: 189
|
Post by baz657 on Jan 16, 2017 19:02:21 GMT
Aside from the defaults I'll be all gone within the next couple of months. I'll be happier by the time it gets warmer.
|
|
ianj
Member of DD Central
Posts: 656
Likes: 520
|
Post by ianj on Jan 16, 2017 20:28:42 GMT
I'm happy. I've very nearly cleared out, my last two unsellable loans threaten to repay soon, and even my defaults are steadily ticking down with recoveries. I can't wait until I'm ecstatic... When I saw the tread title, the thoughts that immediately sprang to mind were almost identical to your comment. My personal 'Nirvana' will be achieved in about five months, when the final £7.86 of an unsaleable, but repaying, loan will finally be cleared. That I have, to date, lost not a single penny during my foray into the land of Fetid Corpulence might be taken as a sign that the gods looked kindly on the naivety of a P2P novice. Of course, I may have used-up all the lucky I'm due, and face financial Armageddon around the next investment corner but, now older and wiser from three years navigating these waters, I will at least stand a chance of recognising a tsunami while it's still on the horizon.
|
|
bramhall17
Member of DD Central
Posts: 88
Likes: 148
|
Post by bramhall17 on Jan 16, 2017 21:24:56 GMT
The seemingly perpetual long term 'Short Term London Property Loans' did for me!! That was the catalyst for a major withdrawal plan and tactical revision. I now only invest more modestly, investing in the secondary market with A+ & A SME loans where 60 month loans have been paid down to circa 52--- >49 etc and the business proposition and financials make commercial sense.
|
|
|
Post by GSV3MIaC on Jan 16, 2017 21:26:59 GMT
/mod hat off
I'm out .. Biddy has retired (with a lifetime return, according to FC, of 30.3% .. actually about half that) .. and all saleable loans have been sold. Cash balance £0.
Why ? Too much trouble to keep up with the website changes for full-on bot-automation (buy, reprice, resell) assuming I am only going for a modest (1%, or £1k) bite at each loan (and there are currently only 1-2 Es per week, and not many more Ds). New loans are at completely unrealistic risk/reward ratio in most cases. Despite pleas from all and sundry they have not made autobid usable (multiple smaller bids, turn off SM buying entirely, run it BEFORE going to manual bidding), they have not reined in the 20%(+) botfest, or delivered the (2012 promised, IIRC) API .. and have in fact failed to deliver on every single promise they ever made (at least the ones I have documented). AFAIAC they are right up there with the 'your call is important to us, please continue to hold' brigade .. 'the individual active investor is important to us, now B&%%£r off and let us entertain our corporate clients' .. but they still like autobiddy grannies, who will take all the chod the WL buyers didn't want. I'm disapointed, but hey, there are better options now, for the lender if not for the borrower.
Similar things are occurring all over though .. new MR algorithm at RS (and no way to set your own floor), 'price to saleability' on SS (12% loans are suddenly offered at 9%, if the amount is small), Underwriting at Assetz replaced by 'lets use the QAA instead' .. the goal for all these companies seems to be 'let's grow the business and IPO it, and to do that we need lowest possible cost of funds'. Oh, and in too many cases we seem to be lending funds (or 'being asked to lend funds') to prospects who make the 2008 sub-prime US house borrowers look like a sovereign wealth fund.
|
|
am
Posts: 1,495
Likes: 601
|
Post by am on Jan 16, 2017 22:04:28 GMT
Well, I'm still ticking away with residential development loans and refinancing bridges at 8% plus - the rates are similar to AC, but not as good as SS and MT, but the loan quality is generally better (in my poorly informed opinion) and FC gives me a degree of diversification not available at other sites. Last autumn the property loans were repaying faster than I could reinvest the repayments, but the loan flow seems to be back in balance now.
I've still got a portfolio of older (and hopefully better quality) SME loans, and I'd like to keep investing in SME for asset class diversification, but it's not worth the time spent perusing the loan requests for the odd loan whose quality shines through the poor presentation that FC new prefers. (I'd did glance at one this afternoon that didn't look bad, but the rate was only 6.5% - a 24 month A+ graded loan.)
I can see the point to the last change of rates - if the predicted default rates were correct the risk premium for participating in the riskier loans was negligible, so stretching the rates so that there's a higher risk premium is not unreasonable. The big problem, apart from the sparse information about loans, is that they're still letting flippers run rampant, without the previous justification of them being de facto underwriters (and suppliers of loan parts at near the marginal rate).
I'm not particularly happy with FC, but it's not the platform that's giving me the greater concern, nor is it the one I've removed 90% of my peak investment from.
|
|
fasty
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,038
Likes: 388
|
Post by fasty on Jan 16, 2017 23:19:37 GMT
Not that happy.
My FC portfolio is now down to 75% of its peak just a few months ago. Yields are simply not sufficiently competitive now, especially when you consider the 1% fee, and in addition nothing is effectively secured. Properly loans have a veneer of security until payback time when many of mine have gone pitifully late. FC merely obfuscate and fail to take firm action. I did nicely out of incubating bundles of Es for a few months, but now when they do rarely appear the bots simply fight for them, so I don't bother any more. I'm not "selling up" in a hurry, but rather paring away the less desirable loan parts, at a premium where I can. I have nothing at less than 10% now. The residue should shift fast if I need it to.
"So long, and thanks for all the fish."
|
|
metoo
Member of DD Central
Posts: 555
Likes: 432
|
Post by metoo on Jan 16, 2017 23:36:59 GMT
I'm not particularly happy with FC, but it's not the platform that's giving me the greater concern, nor is it the one I've removed 90% of my peak investment from. ... it would be interesting to know which one that is (without starting an off-topic debate here)?
|
|