Mini-bonds are on the way out. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to make permanent its ban on the marketing of mini-bonds to retail investors amid concerns over “unexpected and significant consumer loses”. But how unexpected were those losses, really? And what’s a mini-bond anyway? The investors who lost money in the multi-million horror show […]
A recent article in the redoubtable FT Adviser looks at the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules on “speculative illiquid assets”. We welcome the advent of the rules, as we do the media analysis of them. But it’s very, very important to distinguish between these investments (known in many cases as “mini-bonds”) and platform lending. Last […]
City A.M. reports on a long-awaited move from the top regulator. Mini-bonds, which have seen too many investors lose a lot of money, are on the way out. Here’s a an excerpt from the report. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today set out to ban the mass marketing of speculative mini-bonds to ordinary investors. The […]
Our colleagues in the peer-to-peer (P2P) sector of alternative finance, Zopa, have been at pains to point out that P2P loans are not the same as mini-bonds. This commentary has been taken up and recycled at P2P Finance News. Here’s an extract with which we agree – having pointed out the difference, and the higher […]
Our view of the current problems surrounding the sale of mini-bonds is simple: investors should be extra-careful, and make sure they understand the risks of investment – which must be clearly explained by sellers. As we have been at pains to point out (see Wednesday’s News item) mini-bonds and P2P are different animals. Our friends […]
There has been much coverage of “mini-bonds” in the media recently. Many investors are rightly concerned and understandably confused by all the brouhaha over the catastrophic losses suffered by some mini-bond investors. At Money&Co. we do not offer mini-bonds, but it’s surely a good idea to explain what they are, if only for purposes of […]
Sweet success? Minibinds are next up for crowdfunding Trade news organisation Alternative Finance is on the track of future developments in the exapanding crowdfunding market after a recent post regarding Hotel Chocolat and its successful minbond issue. Nicola, the “acclaimed fund manager and Founder of Money & Co., confirmed that the platform’s first mini-bonds are […]
Hotel Chocolat is a great British success story. Between 2008 and 2013, when other retailers languished, it increased its number of stores by 174 per cent. Part of the funding for this expansion came from devotees of the brand, who invested in its first Chocolate Bond. Last week, it closed two more bonds; the Hotel […]