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MoneySavingExpert
Chair, Martin Lewis · Editor, Marcus Herbert
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Sometimes.... I am like a dog with a bone
To me mini bonds seem less transparent then P2P and that is risky enough but still pays comparable rates
Care to share your source on that?
So sad that we have to tip-toe around it.
They say on their website that they have over 7000 investors. So, if only a few thousand know what they are getting into then it doesnt paint a good picture.
Speaking of their website, I like what they say here:
It is worth restating that all the bonds that have failed in the past and took the investors money with them also had a 100% track record up to the point they failed.
Their website also says:
This shows the difference between unregulated investments and regulated investments. Unregulated are saying things that you know are not true. Are LC&F really not receiving any fees for issuing this? Of course, they are. However, it is taken indirectly. In the regulated world, that would be disclosed (and in many areas, not actually allowed). In the unregulated world, it translates into a company doing it for free just because you cant see them.
And finally, just to wrap it up nicely, their website says the following:
Unlike your money.
Fundamentally, no one's details are 100% secure (**) ... so we know they are not 100% truthful.
** - think back to all the different break-ins, hackings, data leaks over the last 15 years, all the big players that had to publically apologise. This lists some of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_data_breaches
Save £12k in 2017 #016 (£4212.06 / £10k) (42.12%)
Save £12k in 2016 #041 (£4558.28 / £6k) (75.97%)
Save £12k in 2014 #192 (£4115.62 / £5k) (82.3%)
"Your details are secure" - possibly an honest statement.
"Your details are 100% secure" - definitely a dishonest statement.
Thing is, it's probably just some stupid marketing gimmick. But they should know better.
I have a pet peeve about people saying/writing "100% sure" or anything like that, because life has taught me that there are always things that could happen that invalidate that statement. Examples:
- "I 100% guarantee I will pay you back next week"
- "I'm 100% sure she likes you"
- "100% sure you will get a fine"
- "it's your engine that's died, 100%"
and so on.
Save £12k in 2017 #016 (£4212.06 / £10k) (42.12%)
Save £12k in 2016 #041 (£4558.28 / £6k) (75.97%)
Save £12k in 2014 #192 (£4115.62 / £5k) (82.3%)
Feefo reviews are pointless. There is no measure of the knowledge and understanding of the person making the review. Plus, there is no guarantee that the reviews are genuine. All the scams out there have great reviews as the scammers generate them. This is not a scam but there is no measure of whether the reviews are genuine or not.
The main thing is that plenty of those reviews are likely to have been made by people who dont have a clue about the risk that they have taken and are only measuring them on the basis that they have received their money. So did Bernie Madoff's investors in the early years.
LC&F have never issued these bonds in any negative period. So, they are totally untested.
Companies House does not give any indication of the number of happy investors who know what they are doing.