4thWay’s Users Rate Us 9.3/10 – It’s All About Our Results

In a poll of our users, we're rated 9.3 out of 10! One of the most common forms of feedback we receive is to just keep doing what we're doing.

The results have proven our worth

It's mathematically highly probable that anyone lending for a sensible length of time who has spread their money around as much as we have recommended, and across P2P lending companies 4thWay has been positive on, will have had good results over the past six years since we started.

I'm afraid I haven't had time to calculate the average return on all the P2P lending accounts with the top 4thWay rating. But, just glancing at the list of accounts that have been rated over the years or where/when our reviews have been supremely positive, it's clear that you'd have easily made an average interest rate of 5%+ after bad debts when spreading your money across all of them. Possibly even a percentage point or two above that. If you had been even more selective – although still, I hope, diversifying properly – you could certainly have been earning closer to 8%.

We've developed an excellent record so far in ratings and research. While we all live and learn, I think lenders who have followed our investing tips, ratings and guidance since 2014 are highly likely to be satisfied with the results they have achieved in terms of interest earned and making positive gains.

We believe the chance of having suffered an overall loss following all our guidance and tips is extremely low, considering the results of the P2P lending companies we've been positive or negative on, and the highly positive impact of our strategy suggestions.

Check out our content in the Guides, Reviews & Tips page and the comparison and ratings tables.

How has 4thWay achieved this?

When you look at how investments have been rated by traditional ratings agencies, and the research that is conducted into shares and other assets, it seems to us that the very clever people producing those ratings and research fall in love with the accuracy of their own equations. (The wise investor Warren Buffett once said something similar, suggesting that such intelligent people should take a few dozen of their IQ points and give them to someone else. “They don't need them.”)

Unfortunately, you can't accurately forecast the future when it comes to projecting the exact results of a specific investment or how the economy will impact returns.

So we at 4thWay took a conscious decision when we started out on P2P ratings and research. We decided to do it the same way that sensible investors select investments. To that end, we rate these opportunties, and write opinions about them, using a large margin of safety. For example, we assume that huge economic disasters will strike at some point. We assume the worst from the P2P lending companies based on their current results. And we are also virtually guaranteed to instantly write off any P2P lending company that doesn't provide a lot of information and data about itself, its results and its people, either publicly or to 4thWay.

It's likely that in doing all this we occasionally disregard a high-quality P2P lending opportunity. However, far more of the bad or mediocre eggs have been weeded out. What 4thWay users have been left with are a decent-sized batch of P2P companies that have collectively produced the goods, paying hundreds of millions of pounds of interest to lenders with low and contained bad debts.

The five most recent reviews of 4thWay

I guess that's why we have such extraordinarily positive feedback and 4thWay users rating us 9.3/10 in an on-site poll. Our five most recent reviews have been:

“Best-researched independent analyses of investing with RateSetter we have seen.”

John Battersby, RateSetter

“Valuable analyses.”

Alan John, a 4thWay^® subscriber

“Well done on the good work.

Stephen MacPhee, a 4thWay^® subscriber

“Thank you for your excellent update on P2P and IFISAs. Please keep up the good work! I have read your analyses over the past few years and found it very helpful in deciding which companies to loan through.”

Norman Pugsley, a 4thWay^® subscriber

“I really enjoy the content on your website and have found it very helpful.”

Esteban Almada, a 4thWay® subscriber

Read every one of our testimonials.

Leading consultants and press commentators

It's not just our website users who appreciate us:

4thWay's specialists have provided consultancy for the banks, the Financial Conduct Authority and the peer-to-peer lending sites themselves.

We believe we are the most cited independent experts in the major newspapers. We've featured many dozens of times in every one of the major national newspapers and most popular money publications, as well as appearing on BBC TV.

Check out our appearances in the national press.

We don't take you for granted!

I can't convey to you properly how much we agonise every month about making sure that the independence of our research is maintained and our moats are widened to protect that independence all the time. And about how much we are motivated to ensure that we enrich all our users while helping you avoid investing situations that worry you. And this goes right to the top of the business.

Your good results and positive feedback are what motivates us. We're forever on your side!