The past few months have been a strange, rough and disturbing time for many – perhaps most – people in the UK. Investors in the stock market have been slammed dreadfully. P2P lending and IFISAs have been a lot more stable, as you should expect…
In this special P2P Lending COVID-19 guide, read how savers and lenders can survive and thrive despite the COVID-19 outbreak. You’ll learn about: The history of epidemics and downturns on P2P lending and other investments. The attitude to your investments that you need to adopt…
Most peer-to-peer lending sits in the sweet spot with potential rewards considerably above savings accounts and yet risks below the stock market. And its incredibly steady record since 2005 certainly supports that. But where exactly does peer-to-peer lending sit compared to bonds? Peer-to-peer lending has…
CapitalStackers recently celebrated £15 million in lending through its platform. CapitalStackers* reports a total of £60 million lent to property developers and other property owners, when you include other lenders, such as Royal Bank of Scotland. CapitalStackers tends to do junior lending. So it arranges…
I’m a fan of the stock market. I think most people with a long time to invest should have some of their money in it. I’ve written about share investing in various pieces on 4thWay, including in this guide I co-wrote: Peer-to-Peer Lending Vs Other…
I have a lot of professional and some personal experience with the Financial Ombudsman Service, all of it good. This powerful and excellent service has helped millions of people. It handles complaints about financial businesses that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This includes…
For the past eight years, a handful of government-funded banks have been lending through P2P lending sites. Peer-to-peer lending sites reference national and international government lending through their online platforms as if it is an indication of quality. MarketInvoice, for example says: “Investors on our…
Lending Works has boosted allowances to cover future possible bad debts from £3 million to £5.5 million, by budgeting for more borrower interest to be paid into the Lending Works Shield. While that means much greater coverage that will better match expected bad debts, it…
Lending Works has adjusted its forecasts of lender returns and bad debts for new loans. It’s increased the amount of borrower payments that now cover bad debts, with lending rates remaining attractive in its highest-paying account. All this has taken place after hiring a new…
There’s a lot to update you on with Lending Works again, which has been split between several of us to write up. In this article, I’m tackling the nitty-gritty around the reductions to lending interest rates on loans issued in 2019 or earlier. To see…
You absolutely must read all our research on Lending Works this month to get a good overview of it as an investment proposition today. As lenders, you need to reset what you thought you knew about Lending Works and take a fresh look, because it’s…
The FCA recently suspended a regulated financial business due to weak controls against money laundering, leaving up to one million account holders unable to access their money. The suspended company, called ePayments Systems Limited, has nothing to do with the peer-to-peer lending industry. But it…
Peer-to-peer lending (including P2P IFISAs) is classified as one of the safer alternative investments, which is why it’s available to all who wish to invest by lending directly to other people, businesses and property owners. But, since it’s still a relatively new form of investing,…
Most peer-to-peer lending websites and IFISA providers allow anyone to lend. If you’re a beginner, they want you to commit not to lend more than 10% of your savings and investment pot across all your P2P loans. If you want to lend more than that,…
Neil Faulkner, 4thWay’s co-founder and Head of Research, has picked his top eight IFISA picks, based on his assessment of the risks and rewards. They include: Five selections that are easy to use and are good for both entry-level and expert-level investors. Five selections that…
Crowd2Fund’s CEO recently expressed strong views on the subject of industry news and forecasts, so we invited him to write about them on 4thWay. 4thWay’s editor (Neil here) added in subtitles and lightly edited. The election result helps the P2P industry grow rapidly Crowd2Fund* is…
Jocelyn, 4thWay subscriber, wrote: “I’m having real problems understanding what the implications are of saying that I am a sophisticated rather than retail investor in the new appropriateness checks, and I wonder whether 4thway will be doing a short piece on this – I tried…
You can go to this comparison page that is filtered for you to compare peer-to-peer lending platforms that automatically assign you to loans, or that offer you the option to do so. So: Which peer-to-peer lending platforms spread your risks? Most of them do not…
There’s been quite an exciting development at Growth Street. I use the word “exciting” to mean it’s a story with a lot of bang, rather than good news. Certainly not for me, as it reveals a mistake by me. Probably my biggest since co-founding 4thWay….
The Zopa login page, as well as Zopa’s cyber security in general, needs to be strong to deter hackers keen to try and take a piece of the billion pounds being lent through this peer-to-peer lending site. As WordFence says, the “secure” symbol in your…
