Here is today's RateSetter mail in total:
RateSetter announces that Metro Bank is purchasing the loan portfolio
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Peer-to-peer lending sites: MSE guide discussion
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I received the following email from Growth Street Today
"I am pleased to announce that we will be making our final distribution to investors on Wednesday 13th January. This distribution will see investors reach 100% recovery against the amount of their investment that was assigned to Growth Street Provision (GSP) as part of the Resolution Event (declared on 15 June 2020).
Returning 100% of your assigned balance (being the amount you invested together with all interest accrued up to the date of the Resolution Event) is a direct result of the success of the recovery process. Having spoken in our last email about recovery progress as a reflection of the strength of our lending portfolio, we have now reached a point in that journey where the total remaining amount due to investors is less than the available resources in GSP.
Returning as much of your assigned investment, as quickly as possible, has been a core focus since the Resolution Event was declared. Being able to return 100% of your assigned balance is a source of great professional pride for the Growth Street team, and I want to take this opportunity to thank them for their hard work. I also want to thank you, our investors, for your patience and support.
Following the final distribution on Wednesday 13th January, we will streamline business operations further, whilst continuing to recover the remaining loans outstanding from borrowers, the proceeds of which will be used to repay previously subordinated GSP funding commitments.
What next for investors?
The final distribution will occur on Wednesday 13th January.
If you have verified nominated bank account details on file with us, these funds will be automatically returned to you; you will not need to do anything.
You have verified nominated bank account details if you have not been contacted by us about this, or if you have responded to previous communications about this.
If you do not have verified nominated bank account details on file with us, you will have 30 days to withdraw your funds from your holding account. We will proactively contact investors to whom this applies, and we will reach out to all investors in the final 30 days to confirm the exact date and share any final relevant details you may require.
We will send all investors a final tax statement for the tax year 2020/21 before the end of the 30 day period; following the expiration of those 30 days, the platform will no longer be accessible. Even if your funds are returned to you automatically, we strongly recommend that you login into your investor dashboard and download any information you may need.
What next for Growth Street?
After all the funds have been redistributed to investors, Growth Street will move to streamline business operations further in order to ensure that it can continue to collect against outstanding balances and meet its obligations to its remaining creditors.
Whilst we will be in touch again over the next 30 days, this will be one of our last emails to our platform investors, so once again, I want to extend my thanks to you. This last year has been extremely difficult, characterised by uncertainty and frustration. We hope that this news will help to ease some of the burden.
Our team is happy to answer any questions you might have. You can contact us by calling 0808 123 1231 and selecting Option 3, emailing contact@growthstreet.co.uk, or starting a live chat on our website.
Kind regards,
Kim Goetzke, Chief Operating Officer
"
So that's it for me an P2P Lending, my final bit of money being returned, and seems I just about got away with my profits and no losses. I only had a toe dip to test the waters, and I'm sure it has a place in some peoples portfolios (I think of it akin to investing in junk bonds), but I think I won't go near those muddy waters again.Retired 1st July 2021.
This is not investment advice.
Your money may go "down and up and down and up and down and up and down ... down and up and down and up and down and up and down ... I got all tricked up and came up to this thing, lookin' so fire hot, a twenty out of ten..."2 -
Received another email from Growth Street regarding final distribution being made Today which included "We recommend that you allow 24-48 hours for this to take place", however checking my bank account straight afterwards I saw it was already there.
So credit to Growth Street for managing their wind down in such a well controlled way and returning all monies to lenders.
Retired 1st July 2021.
This is not investment advice.
Your money may go "down and up and down and up and down and up and down ... down and up and down and up and down and up and down ... I got all tricked up and came up to this thing, lookin' so fire hot, a twenty out of ten..."0 -
Advised by RateSetter today that they are closing all accounts on 2 April with all monies being able to be withdrawn on that day from my holding account. Most of my money is in their ISA account, so looking to see where to move it to. Considering Lending Works and wondered what experience others have had with them. I started out with Zopa but wasn’t happy with them and moved to RateSetter. Have been very happy with them so it’s a shame that now they have been bought out by MetroBank they won’t be doing P2P any more.0
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Llandaffian said:Considering Lending Works and wondered what experience others have had with them.
https://p2pindependentforum.com/board/73/lending-works
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Llandaffian said:Advised by RateSetter today that they are closing all accounts on 2 April with all monies being able to be withdrawn on that day from my holding account. Most of my money is in their ISA account, so looking to see where to move it to. Considering Lending Works and wondered what experience others have had with them. I started out with Zopa but wasn’t happy with them and moved to RateSetter. Have been very happy with them so it’s a shame that now they have been bought out by MetroBank they won’t be doing P2P any more.
Loanpad, CrowdProperty and Kuflink have performed well during the Covid19 crisis. None have had to introduce any special measures or restrict withdrawals in any way. They all accept Isa transfers.0 -
Llandaffian said:Advised by RateSetter today that they are closing all accounts on 2 April with all monies being able to be withdrawn on that day from my holding account. Most of my money is in their ISA account, so looking to see where to move it to. Considering Lending Works and wondered what experience others have had with them. I started out with Zopa but wasn’t happy with them and moved to RateSetter. Have been very happy with them so it’s a shame that now they have been bought out by MetroBank they won’t be doing P2P any more.
With the 'Business' P2P loans with which I was/am invested, both Growth Street and Ratesetter have closed themselves to retail investors. Lending Crowd have done the same for now. You were unhappy with Zopa Limited. Investors with Lending Works will likely still turn a profit on the covid-era loans (I'd say negative interest will eat into interest first before it eats capital i.e. a reduction in expected interest) though funds have been illiquid throughout the pandemic. That leaves Assetz Capital, who appear to have faired best. Zopa Limited, Lending Works, and Assetz Capital all claim to now only be deploying 'covid-watertight' loans. All things considered, if Business P2P, then perhaps Assetz Capital?
'Property' P2P loans is a sector which appears to have been comparatively unaffected. I imagine the demand for property will never cease. CrowdProperty, Loanpad, Kuflink, CapitalRise, and Proplend have faired well. Of these, CrowdProperty and CapitalRise did not struggle at all. Octopus Choice (as with Lending Works) has kept all investments illiquid, though pays a bonus interest in 'compensation'. The advantage with CrowdProperty (£50 loan chunks), LoanPad (£10? chunks), and Kuflink (£? chunks) is that you can diversify small amounts of money across multiple loans. CapitalRise, and Proplend require investment of much larger single shot amounts per loan (£1000). CrowdProperty has no secondary market, though currently offers the highest interest rate in general terms (8%) of any P2P company.
So your choice might include Assetz Capital, CrowdProperty, Loanpad, and Kuflink?
P.S. There are long-standing Pillars of this thread (Masonic) who would advise against Property Development P2P in it's entirety, though they may well have revised their position since I last read their thoughts?
With Kind Regards
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Dear Ed,
Today we are announcing that Metro Bank is purchasing the RateSetter loan portfolio in line with Metro Bank’s strategic objective to grow in consumer loans.
Metro Bank has been funding all new consumer lending following its acquisition of RateSetter in September 2020, since when the investor loan portfolio has been in run off. Today’s announcement follows the subsequent sale of RateSetter’s residential property development portfolio, a line of lending which is not an area of focus for Metro Bank, and was made possible by Metro Bank’s recent sale of a £3bn residential mortgage portfolio, which freed up capital for the purchase. The performance of the consumer loan portfolio has allowed the purchase to be at full value, despite the ongoing economic uncertainty.
The portfolio purchase means that all RateSetter investors will receive their money back in full and the investing side of RateSetter will close. In line with our Investor Terms we are providing two months’ notice of account closure and so this will happen on 2 April 2021.
What happens now?
All invested money will return to your Holding account from 2 April 2021, as will money on market. This process is expected to take five days. Naturally, no investment release fee will apply to money returned to your Holding account from the purchase. Invested money will continue to earn interest until then and repayments will continue to be treated in line with your account settings until then too.
We will contact you again when all your money is in your Holding account. You may wish to check that your bank account details are up to date in your RateSetter account ready for your withdrawal. If you have a RateSetter ISA, when your money returns to your ISA Holding account you may withdraw it or move your ISA to another provider by asking your new ISA provider to arrange the transfer.
Thank you for being a RateSetter investor
We launched over ten years ago and grew to be the UK’s most popular P2P platform, attracting over three quarters of a million investors and borrowers. We are proud to have delivered an average annual return of 4.4%, while our credit management and pioneering Provision Fund ensured no investor ever lost a penny of capital – a unique track record that has been maintained throughout the current time of economic uncertainty and through to the purchase we are announcing today.
Going forward, RateSetter will focus on being a market-leading consumer lender consistent with Metro Bank’s strategy to grow in consumer finance.
We are committed to continuing our customer service. If you have any questions or require any further assistance, please contact our Investor Services team at invest@ratesetter.com.
The RateSetter team
FAQs
Q. Is Metro Bank purchasing the entire P2P loan portfolio?
A. Yes, Metro Bank is purchasing all the loans in the portfolio. This will happen from 2 April 2021. The process is expected to take five days.
Q. Why is the purchase happening now rather than when Metro Bank acquired RateSetter?
A. When Metro Bank acquired RateSetter in September 2020 the portfolio contained residential property development loans, a line of lending which is not an area of strategic focus for Metro Bank and which was sold in December 2020 to Shawbrook. Also, since the acquisition last September, Metro Bank has sold a £3bn residential mortgage portfolio to NatWest (announced in December 2020) which freed up capital for Metro Bank to make this purchase of the RateSetter loan portfolio in line with its strategic objective to grow in consumer loans. The performance of the consumer loan portfolio has allowed the purchase to be at full value, despite the ongoing economic uncertainty.
Q. Do I need to log in to withdraw my money to my bank account?
A. Yes. You can do this as soon as money comes into your Holding account. We will contact you again when the processing has been completed and all your money has been returned to your Holding account. As now, money in your Holding account does not earn interest.
Q. How long does it take for money I withdraw to reach my bank account?
A. Money sent from your RateSetter Holding account to your bank account should be in your bank account by 6pm the following working day.
Q. I am a RateSetter ISA investor, how do I keep my money within the tax-free ISA wrapper?
A. You can withdraw money from your ISA Holding account to your bank account, however, it may not stay in its tax-free ISA wrapper. By transferring from your ISA Holding account to a new ISA provider you can keep your money in the tax-free ISA wrapper. To transfer your ISA please contact your new ISA provider. Your new ISA provider will ask you to complete a Transfer-In form and they will submit this to RateSetter on your behalf. For more information please see the ISA FAQs section of our website here.
Q. I have a RateSetter ISA and haven’t used my full ISA allowance for this tax year. Can I still add money to my ISA?
A. Yes, investors in this position may add money up to their annual ISA allowance until 5 April 2021. Invested money will return to your ISA Holding account from 2 April, as will money on market. Any money added on or after 2 April will count towards your annual ISA allowance for the 2020/21 tax year, but will remain in your ISA Holding account and will not earn interest.
Q. I withdrew money from my RateSetter ISA earlier in this tax year, can I still add that money back in?
A. The RateSetter ISA is a flexible ISA and this means that if you have withdrawn money, you can put it back in the same tax year without affecting your ISA allowance. Investors in this position may add money to replace withdrawals from their RateSetter ISA until 5 April 2021.
Q. Will I be able to open a RateSetter ISA in the 2021/22 tax year?
A. No, you will not be able to open a new RateSetter ISA in the 2021/22 tax year.
Q. Can I still release an investment before 2 April 2021?
A. Yes. As always, the speed of delivering release requests depends on the availability of funds in the RateSetter market.
Q. Will I be charged any early release fees?
A. Naturally, no early release fee will apply to money returned to your Holding account from the purchase. If you choose to release your investment in advance of this, the usual early release fee will apply.
Q. Will I still be able to access my investment account tax statements in future?
A. Your tax statement details will continue to be available. We would encourage you to download your existing tax statements.
Q. What happens to the money in the Provision Fund?
A. The Provision Fund was set up to protect RateSetter investors from credit losses in the portfolio. It has done its job and RateSetter investors will receive their money back in full. Following the purchase, the Provision Fund will remain attached to the loan portfolio.
Q. Will the Provision Fund return any money to me from the interest reduction?
A. No, money does not return from an interest reduction. The money from the interest reduction went into the Provision Fund to protect investors against expected future credit losses.
Q. When will my RateSetter account close?
A. In line with our Investor Terms we are providing two months’ notice of account closure and so this will happen on 2 April 2021.
Q. Is there any change for RateSetter borrowers?
A. No, nothing is changing for borrowers.0 -
Nardge said:Llandaffian said:Advised by RateSetter today that they are closing all accounts on 2 April with all monies being able to be withdrawn on that day from my holding account. Most of my money is in their ISA account, so looking to see where to move it to. Considering Lending Works and wondered what experience others have had with them. I started out with Zopa but wasn’t happy with them and moved to RateSetter. Have been very happy with them so it’s a shame that now they have been bought out by MetroBank they won’t be doing P2P any more.
With the 'Business' P2P loans with which I was/am invested both Growth Street and Ratesetter have closed themselves to retail investors. Lending Crowd have done the same for now. You were unhappy with Zopa Limited. Investors with Lending Works will likely still turn a profit on the covid-era loans (I'd say negative interest will eat into interest first before it eats capital i.e. a reduction in expected interest) though funds have been illiquid throughout the pandemic. That leaves Assetz Capital, who appear to have faired best. Zopa Limited, Lending Works, and Assetz Capital all claim to now only be deploying 'covid-watertight' loans. All things considered, if Business P2P, then perhaps Assetz Capital?
'Property' P2P loans is a sector which appears to have been comparatively unaffected. I imagine the demand for property will never cease. CrowdProperty, Loanpad, Kuflink, CapitalRise, and Proplend have faired well. Of these, CrowdProperty and CapitalRise did not struggle at all. Octopus Choice (as with Lending Works) has kept all investments illiquid, though pays a bonus interest in 'compensation'. The advantage with CrowdProperty (£50 loan chunks), LoanPad (£10? chunks), and Kuflink (£? chunks) is that you can diversify small amounts of money across multiple loans. CapitalRise, and Proplend require investment of much larger single shot amounts per loan (£1000). CrowdProperty has no secondary market, though currently offers the highest interest rate in genral terms (8%) of any P2P company.
So your choice might include Assetz Capital, CrowdProperty, Loanpad, and Kuflink?
P.S. There are long-standing Pillars of this thread (Masonic) who would advise against Property Development P2P in it's entirety, though they may well have revised their position since I last read their thoughts?
With Kind Regards
1) There are plenty of P2P sites offering more than 8%, and a few of them are also delivering on that. Ablrate, Unbolted, Proplend(not auto), CapitalRise, Assetz Capital (MLA), LandlordInvest, SoMo, HNW Lending and Qardus are all delivering average returns above 8% for me.
2) It's impossible to achieve 8% with CrowdProperty due to inevitable cash drag. Auto investers in today's loan on CP were only allocated 7% of the amount they wanted due to its popularity. To be clear, I'm very happy with CP. They're one of my favourite platforms, but there's no chance of 8%. Whereas platforms like Loanpad do deliver exactly what they advertise as they pay daily interest even on cash that's not assigned to loans. In fact they deliver slightly above the advertised rates if you reinvest the interest due to compounding. Another favourite of mine.1 -
For anyone who had invested in The House Crowd (either in loans or in the crowd funding raise), they are the latest to fall into administration. The company didn't ever seem to get much traction on here so I suspect there might not be too many affected, but posting it in case it is of interest to some. It's not the first, and I'm sure it won't be the last.Northern Ireland club member No 382 :j1
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How's the P2P landscape looking these days in our post-Covid* world?
I've just read the last 5 pages of this thread and it was all looking a bit shaky there for a while.
Is confidence returning?
*Yes, I know it's still about, but hopefully the worst is now behind us.How's it going, AKA, Nutwatch? - 12 month spends to date = 2.60% of current retirement "pot" (as at end May 2025)0
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