Ahead of the “ISA season” – aka the frenzy to invest before the end of the tax year on 5th April, we offer the final instalment of our review of platform lending. Below we look at the major similarities and differences between Innovative Finance Individual Savings Accounts and (IFISAs), which allow investors to hold platform […]
The performance of the alternative finance sector in the UK has been strong. Regular readers will know that we expect more inward investment and lots of interesting deals in alternative finance generally – and platform lending in particular – this year. Our friends at City A.M. report: The UK has secured its place as the […]
Goldman Sachs has presented the firm’s vision for the future, with Marcus, the savings venture, to the fore, according to Crowdfundinsider. It’s worth noting that platform lending offers, such as Money&Co.’s with an average return of over eight per cent gross over more than five years, offer a far greater return. However, the extra yield […]
The number of women on the boards of top fintech and peer-to-peer companies has been dubbed “disappointing”, despite improvements made by leading companies to make their boards more diverse, according to research reported by AltFi. Commentators have urged leading fintech and P2P companies to increase their efforts to appoint more female executives and individuals from a BAME […]
Maturity and balance are slowly coming to mainstream finance, following the headlong rush by big investors to get into the alternative finance sector. P2P Finance News reports on the latest from an investment trust that is seeking to do a number of sensible things – including getting some diversity into its balance sheet. Approximately £85m […]
If you buy the product, should you be able to buy a share of the company that makes it? The Dealer Support platform carries an engaging opinion piece looking at potential trends in alternative finance. In the posited “post-consumer” society, we are all players. One cited example is the telecoms company Giff-Gaff, where consumers own […]
Many commentators, including ourselves, have predicted shake-out in the platform lending sector. Economies of scale, mergers, new lending streams and, in some cases, moves towards banking all look likely to us. Our friends at P2P Finance News report the latest from the platform lending sector. ThinCats has told its customers that it is shutting down […]
The convergence between mainstream finance and the alternative sector is a dynamic process. The mainstream has thrown a lot of money – often with painful consequences – at alternatives. On the other hand, entities such as challenger FinTech banks are entering the savings market. While platform lending is not directly comparable with savings accounts, the […]
The gap between alternative finance and the mainstream gets ever closer. Whether the fresh thinking from the alternative sector will inform mainstream thinking or whether the alternative will simply become subsumed within conventional ways of doing business remains to be seen. Our friends at AltFi report the latest. Michael Spencer, the billionaire Icap founder, is […]
Whatever happened to transparency? The platform lending, or peer-to-peer (P2P) sector has been roundly criticised for lack of transparency in its loan books. Much of that criticism is well founded. If you cannot judge the status of an individual loan (very difficult once they’re all wrapped up together in a security) how can you make […]