mary
Member of DD Central
Posts: 698
Likes: 711
|
Post by mary on Apr 30, 2017 7:01:08 GMT
Have a look at Growth Street, a much smaller and newer platform, therefore inherently higher risk.
However, the protection mechanism works in much the same way as RateSetter, and they are solely focused on Auto-Investors at present, with money back in a maximum of 30 days and a target rate of 6.5%.
|
|
|
Post by khampson on Apr 30, 2017 7:58:14 GMT
I was looking for the same thing, auto invest, quick access. I have tried a few and I will review them.
BondMason - offering 7% (target) no provision fund, I like the concept of BM, however I was constantly had spare cash in my account and was a cash drag issue, they just raised the minimum investment to £5000 so I cashed out.
Ratesetter - excellent site, providing a provision fund but low rates on the rolling market 2.2% to 3.2%, however the provision fund is down to 116% and the risk reasons too high for me.
Assetz capital - good site giving up to 7% with provision fund, however it takes ages to get money invested at 7%, sometimes I never lent any out at all in a month but funds were automatically put in the instant 3.75% fund, also money can get locked into the 7% funds for years if trading is suspended so not really for me.
Funding circle - autobid function but no provision fund, autobid buys everyone else's rubbish and the loans are unsecured, also rates are way to low for the risk and my defaults were high using autobid so I withdrew my money. I had no trouble selling loans at 0% markup /down but FC do take a 0.25% fee.
Landbay - fire and forget platform, interest of 3.75% is paid on the 1st of the month, provision fund, easy to get at funds. This was OK but they let to buy to let mortgages and I sometimes worry about the housing market.
Growth street - (my current p2p platform) I really like this platform and is best I have used, I get 6.4% (after fees) and this has a provision fund, it is a 30 day rolling so I can quickly get at funds, money is lent out the same day in most cases, and is very much like ratesetter, live chat is really helpful and the provision fund covers 353% of the loan book.
|
|
macq
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,934
Likes: 1,199
|
Post by macq on Apr 30, 2017 7:58:42 GMT
There is also Crowd2fund who have an IFISA that can be set to auto invest.Think its £100 minimum per loan & not sure you can spread your risk that quick due to how many deals they have.But you are lending to companies only with no property deals if you want to go that route but with more risk.With property there is always Landbay which might be the simplest platform going but it may take a while to get your money invested.Not sure if they still do the cashback,which covers lost interest like they used to?
|
|
ozaz
Posts: 36
Likes: 15
|
Post by ozaz on Apr 30, 2017 8:18:19 GMT
mary , khampson Thanks for your evaluations on specific platforms. I do currently have money with Assetz, Funding Circle, Growth Street, LandBay, RateSetter, and Zopa Like khampson, Growth Street is my favorite as its a good fit for my current investment horizon and it is extremely hands off. But for both Growth Street and Assetz Capital I'm at the limit for which I'm currently willing to invest in a single platform. Hence this thread.
|
|
ozaz
Posts: 36
Likes: 15
|
Post by ozaz on Apr 30, 2017 8:38:44 GMT
There is also Crowd2fund who have an IFISA that can be set to auto invest.Think its £100 minimum per loan & not sure you can spread your risk that quick due to how many deals they have.But you are lending to companies only with no property deals if you want to go that route but with more risk.With property there is always Landbay which might be the simplest platform going but it may take a while to get your money invested.Not sure if they still do the cashback,which covers lost interest like they used to? Thanks. Crowd2Fund is actually the IFISA I subscribed to last minute in 16-17. I haven't used the autobid yet and yes they don't have a huge volume of loans. Its taken me a month to spread £2000 across 10 loans. This is using the primary market. There is a secondary market, but everything on here has been significantly marked up so I haven't used it for purchasing loans. Makes me think it will be easy to sell at face value if I need to in the near future. Selling does not incur a fee. I signed up to Landbay two or three weeks ago. Unfortunately my money is still in a queue! They still have cashback.
|
|
|
Post by khampson on Apr 30, 2017 8:44:53 GMT
Yes we seem to have similar requirements, I like to know I can get at my funds sharpish if I need to. Growth street is definitely my favourite, I did like AC but I could never get my funds out at 7% in the green or blue account.
I will watch this thread as I set a limit of 5k per platform and I am approaching that so will be looking for another platform shortly.
|
|
ozaz
Posts: 36
Likes: 15
|
Post by ozaz on Apr 30, 2017 8:52:46 GMT
Might be worth pointing out at this point that on some of the hands off platforms, the fees are applied after tax. You might have to pay tax on say, interest at 8% while only actually receiving 6.5% after fees making a net return of only 4.9% for a basic rate tax payer. Not saying don't, just saying be aware of your own tax situation and how the fees, if any, are applied on the platforms. Thanks for raising this point. Just to clarify my understanding... Platform A: Interest = 6%. Fees not explicitly charged to lender. Platform B: Interest = 7%. Additional platform fees said to be 1%. Platform A is better from a purely tax perspective?
|
|
macq
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,934
Likes: 1,199
|
Post by macq on Apr 30, 2017 8:59:33 GMT
last time i looked Landbay were saying 2 months wait but it was 4-6 weeks in Feb and i think people are still waiting!Have noticed the mark up on the Crowd2fund exchange but if people keep buying then people will keep offering at a reduced % price but like you said it may be the only way when you first join,also looks like some people buy blocks of £100,£200 etc and sell the day after a loan closes.Maybe for a different thread but i much prefer sites that sell at par always reminds me of Investment trusts selling with a discount or premium and its not like the loans are worth anymore after 6 Months.
|
|
david42
Member of DD Central
Posts: 419
Likes: 346
|
Post by david42 on Apr 30, 2017 9:28:24 GMT
Might be worth pointing out at this point that on some of the hands off platforms, the fees are applied after tax. You might have to pay tax on say, interest at 8% while only actually receiving 6.5% after fees making a net return of only 4.9% for a basic rate tax payer. Not saying don't, just saying be aware of your own tax situation and how the fees, if any, are applied on the platforms. Thanks for raising this point. Just to clarify my understanding... Platform A: Interest = 6%. Fees not explicitly charged to lender. Platform B: Interest = 7%. Additional platform fees said to be 1%. Platform A is better from a purely tax perspective? To confirm whether A was better from a tax perspective, you would need to know the tax treatment of the fees on the specific platform. For example Funding Circle changed all their contracts a couple of years ago to move the fee from the lender to the borrower, meaning that the fee would then be deducted before tax was paid. But Bondmason is an example of a platform where the fees are charged to the lender, and the advice Bondmason received from HMRC is that the fees are paid after tax is deducted. So for an individual paying higher rate tax, the returns after tax in your example would be: Platform A: Interest = 6%. Fees not explicitly charged to lender. Return after 40% tax = 6%*60% = 3.6% Platform B: Interest = 7%. Additional platform fees charged to lender of 1%. Return after 40% tax = (7%*60%) - 1% = 3.2% This problem does not apply if you are investing through an ISA, or through a company, or if you have enough tax exemptions to cover the interest.
|
|
|
Post by dan1 on Apr 30, 2017 9:47:25 GMT
last time i looked Landbay were saying 2 months wait but it was 4-6 weeks in Feb and i think people are still waiting!Have noticed the mark up on the Crowd2fund exchange but if people keep buying then people will keep offering at a reduced % price but like you said it may be the only way when you first join,also looks like some people buy blocks of £100,£200 etc and sell the day after a loan closes.Maybe for a different thread but i much prefer sites that sell at par always reminds me of Investment trusts selling with a discount or premium and its not like the loans are worth anymore after 6 Months. Just a note on the Landbay queue - I've been waiting 18 weeks!
|
|
macq
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,934
Likes: 1,199
|
Post by macq on Apr 30, 2017 9:55:28 GMT
I thought Landbay were doing better then that as they have had funding and are promoted on the Zoopla site so 18 weeks seems a bit much but guess with the cashback you are not losing.Maybe with their ISA and publicity they have extra money coming in. Also if after 18 weeks you give up and take your money out can you keep the cash back money?
|
|
|
Post by dan1 on Apr 30, 2017 10:16:16 GMT
I thought Landbay were doing better then that as they have had funding and are promoted on the Zoopla site so 18 weeks seems a bit much but guess with the cashback you are not losing.Maybe with their ISA and publicity they have extra money coming in. Also if after 18 weeks you give up and take your money out can you keep the cash back money? I have no concerns regarding Landbay. Yes, 18 weeks is rather a long time and there's no end (or should I say, loan) in sight. BTL mortgages are long term (10 years) investments so 18 weeks is insignificant in the scheme of things. Yes, I'm still being paid cashback into my account and therefore it is available to withdraw with my original investment, and without fees. I'm one of the many who joined up to make use of the refer a friend scheme, which means I need to keep my investment and payments (whether cashback or interest) on the platform for 12 months. You can download their loan book, which the last time I looked was somewhat thin on new approvals. They're still offering refer a friend and cashback (to my knowledge) and they've launched their ISA so the business plan must support these activities to draw in more investment.
|
|
macq
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,934
Likes: 1,199
|
Post by macq on Apr 30, 2017 10:22:45 GMT
thanks-may give it a look on them terms,guess the next problem would be if i want to reinvest my payments to get a better return as i guess you start waiting all over again in the queue
|
|
ozaz
Posts: 36
Likes: 15
|
Post by ozaz on Apr 30, 2017 10:48:13 GMT
I thought Landbay were doing better then that as they have had funding and are promoted on the Zoopla site so 18 weeks seems a bit much but guess with the cashback you are not losing.Maybe with their ISA and publicity they have extra money coming in. Also if after 18 weeks you give up and take your money out can you keep the cash back money? You need to keep at least £1000 invested for 12 months to get the £50 cashback
|
|
GeorgeT
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,322
Likes: 1,576
|
Post by GeorgeT on Apr 30, 2017 12:18:42 GMT
This is a brilliant thread.
|
|