In many countries, financial products are sold through banks and there is a lack of independent advice. In the UK, clients rely on Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) and the fact that they are independent should mean that they seek out the best products for their clients, leading to better returns. Many clients are financially unsophisticated […]
The resilience of the peer-to-peer lending sector in a downturn has been debated since the industry’s fruition, write our friends at P2P Finance News in a recent article. The piece goes on to reveal some happy, if perhaps surprising, news: “Funding Circle has claimed its loan book would hold up in a recession, after subjecting […]
Let’s take a quick trip back to the world of equity crowdfunding. We regularly cover equity investment – which carries risk that is generally higher than P2P risk (there’s still a high failure rate amongst start-up companies). The upside is very different – and can be very attractive if the investee company takes off. We […]
The future is out there – and it’s fast becoming the present. Or rather it will be, just as soon as the investment adviser community realises what’s on offer in the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending market, our very own sub-sector of the alternative finance industry. In the autumn of 2017, our friends at P2PFN ran the […]
Is this the opening of the floodgates? We’ve long been looking at the uses of cryptocurrencies and security tokens, as regularly reported on this site. We’ve also commented on the mixture of fear and envy demonstrated by mainstream finance when it looks at the crypto world. It’s common knowledge that the big banks have been […]
It is almost the end of the tax year and, as the proverb on the sun dial says, “It is later than you think.” Our friends at P2P Finance News offer a timely (sic) reminder for savers and investors. WITH less than two months left to the end of the tax year, make sure you […]
Our friends at Crowdfundinsider report that peer-to-peer (P2P) lending research firm 4thWay “has published a note touting the benefits of investing in P2P loans in contrast to more volatile equity investing. 4thWay says that Brexit induced market volatility should compel investors to consider investing in online loans.” “4thWay says it is simple for lenders (ie investors) to diversify […]
As the Individual Savings Account (ISA) season cranks into gear, the marketing boffins at Money&Co. couldn’t quite resist offering support to England’s boys in white. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the name recognition from the hoardings in St Lucia for the third cricket Test Match between the West Indies and England. Our sporting interests don’t […]
As promised yesterday, here’s some research from independent analyst, Beauhurst, on equity crowdfunding. The upshot, as reported, is that the growth on the other side of the fence is slowing. A report released this week indicates a decline in both the number of deals and the total amount deals for the UK early stage equity […]
Tomorrow, we’ll be taking a closer look at the pros and cons of investing in equity, specifically start-ups seeking share capital via crowdfunding. We often look at equity crowdfunding, as it’s seen by many as an alternative (though it’s not an either/or alternative) to crowdfunded debt. This site facilitates investment in crowdfunded debt: we bring […]