London Capital and Finance

formidible wrote: »

London Capital & Finance have a 100% payout record over the last three years.

https://www.londoncapitalandfinance.co.uk/?term=3&utm_source=BSR&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=3%20year

Bernie Madoff managed 49 years. Although his bent activity didnt come until later.

Endowments paid surpluses without fail for over 100 years.

No retail bank had failed in the modern era until 2008 when several did.

Risks are risks because they could happen or will happen but you dont know when. Complacency can set in the longer a risk fails to happen. However, it does not mean the risk is not present. Run across a road without looking 10 ten times and you may survive all ten times or you may be killed on your first go.

I recently invested the min 10k with them and the principal of their business seems sound in that they lent money to companies who secure the loan with company assists. Similar to PEER to PEER lending but with LCF you have the additional company asset guarantee if the borrowing Company defaults, . Basically the logic seems sound as if you lent out money at say 12-15% and pay investors 8% there is a nice margin to be made. Building Societies succeed on the same principle but with a lot lower margin but have a higher turnover. Price Waterhouse audited their April 2016 accounts positively which LCF gave me the link which I still need to verify as legitimate. I am still cautious as want to invest a lot more so need to visit LCF offices and get further clarification on the numerous Company House PDF's that are freely available. The change in company name and turnover of Directors being the main issue
.LONDON CAPITAL & FINANCE LIMITED 01 Jul 2015 - 11 Nov 2015
SALES AID FINANCE (ENGLAND) LIMITED 18 Feb 2013 - 01 Jul 2015
SOUTH EASTERN COUNTIES FINANCE LIMITED 28 Jan 2013 - 18 Feb 2013
SALES AID FINANCE (ENGLAND) LIMITED 21 Sep 2012 - 28 Jan 2013
SOUTH EASTERN COUNTIES FINANCE LIMITED 12 Jul 2012 - 21 Sep 2012
I would like some positive feedback from some of the past investors whose Bonds have matured. Another issue here is marketing as I found out about them only by chance. If my Building society charged Mortgage customers 14% and paid investors 8% the only question asked would be they are greedy and should pay me 10%. If LCF borrowing increases they need the punters to buy Bonds and the 8%is is the lure. I would really be pleased to get any feedback to convince me to invest with LCF or avoid them like the Plague. so I can get off the barb wire on top of the fence.

Sledger wrote:

Similar to PEER to PEER lending but with LCF you have the additional company asset guarantee if the borrowing Company defaults

This guarantee is only as good as the company behind it. Such guarantees are often worth little more than the paper they are written on.

Building Societies succeed on the same principle but with a lot lower margin but have a higher turnover.

Building societies accept deposits, are subject to stringent capital adequacy regulations, and if they do go bust their depositors are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. None of that applies to LC&F so they cannot be compared.

Price Waterhouse audited their April 2016 accounts positively which LCF gave me the link which I still need to verify as legitimate.

PWC would have done nothing more than audit the accounts and issue an unqualified opinion that as far as they can tell the books are in order, the assets and liabilities are what they say they are and no dodgy accounting is taking place. That doesn't tell you anything about whether the business will remain viable in the near or distant future. (That is assuming that they did issue an unqualified opinion, but you have to be really brazenly dodgy for an accountant to bring himself to issue a qualified opinion.)

I am still cautious as want to invest a lot more so need to visit LCF offices and get further clarification on the numerous Company House PDF's that are freely available.

You are considerably overestimating your ability to predict the future profitability and creditworthiness of a privately run limited company.

I would like some positive feedback from some of the past investors whose Bonds have matured

I have no reason to think they haven't been paid back what they owed, but it's of little relevance as you aren't investing your money when they did.

I have looked at who owns the company. The CEO {Text removed by MSE Forum Team} is on LinkedIn which for me is a small plus.

Being on social media is no indication of anything. In fact, there was a recent dodgy scheme that got a lot of coverage on this site and ended up in the financial press where they had active social media but it turned out the person was made up and was using stock photos. The scheme was also unregulated and being incorrect promoted.

You cannot use social media activity or existence as a badge of security.

I want the bulk of my savings in something that is not risky and provides a regular return. If I have a small amount in more risky assets but can like with that being wiped out then that is my choice and that is how I would approach my savings goal. If this business is investing the bulk of its cash in building/construction then I would avoid it as imho house prices are likely to fall.

So, use conventional options then. Dont use unregulated stuff with 100% capital loss potential. It seems daft to have a bulk at one end of the risk scale and a little right at the other end but ignore all the options in between.