Peer to peer

Adamjeffs

Anyone got any experience of peer to peer? I invest in the stock market And have about 17K in that and about the same in cash spread between halifax. Tsb and 4K in the 123 account ( just transferred the rest out in preparation for the rate cut.I was thinking of putting 1 to 2 K in p2p and maybe closing santander and switching to Tesco

PeacefulWaters

I stuck £1,000 in Ratesetter at the lowest risk end of its lending.

So far it's on track to return the full rate promised.

MarkFromCornwall

I've been using Lending Crowd, Zopa, Ratesetter and Funding Circle. All are doing well but it's important to understand that this is riskier than savings accounts. Diversifying is key to managing that risk, ie. invest in a large number of small loans not a small number of large loans.

Trentenders

Look at the existing threads on here, or better still http://p2pindependentforum.com/

Lots of options out there - some good, but others to probably best avoid.

Edit: PS - I wouldn't recommend any of the platforms mentioned so far, other than Ratesetter for the first year, to take advantage of their introductory & referral bonuses. My top tip for a newbie to P2P would be to spend a little time thinking about which platforms (plural) to use, before jumping in.

bigadaj

As above I'm just using Ratesetter for the bonus.

Currently invested with Savingstream, Moneything and Ablrate, all ok so far, Savingstream have been criticised and have limited funds there, Ablrate has a very slow deal rate, Moneything are the best in my experience.

Key thing is to invest in multiple platforms and certainly multiple loans to spread risk, defaults are a realistic issue by the anther if the investment but if you have 20 loans earning 10%, and one defaults, then your overall return is still 5%. Total loss is unlikely as the platforms I quote are all secured lending, so even with a default a large chunk of money will eventually be returned when assets are liquidated.

Adamjeffs

Thanks I was considering rate setter I was really waiting for the isa but think I might be retired by the time it gets authorised! Plus with the psa now less of an issue

I take on board your comments about spreading around various p2p lenders if I start to build up a decent wedge in it. Atm I'm just considering a small investment and have the rest in tracker funds and cash. I'm reasonably cautious at the mo

lakelady

I invested £1500 in Funding Circle, as a 'toe in the water' about six months ago, and have made about £60 on it up to now.

I let them choose the loans, and have chosen to spread them amongst all risk groups. I set the maximum exposure to one loan at 1.3%, which I think is the lowest option.

Only one loan has defaulted up to now, and has lost me £18; but that is factored into the £60 profit.

The fees are pretty high.

darkidoe

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

I stuck £1,000 in Ratesetter at the lowest risk end of its lending.

So far it's on track to return the full rate promised.

How do you choose the level of risk in Ratesetter? I can only choose the loan period, ie Rolling, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years.

Trentenders

You can't - you can only choose the term (from one month to 5 years) and whether to accept their 'invest now' rate (NEVER do this), or whether to set your own slightly higher rate.

guitarman001

I've been using fundingcircle for about 2 years and despite investing in only A grade loans, bad debt and fees have almost completely eroded returns. I've been getting 1.5% on average. I'm actually contacting them now to find out how to end all the loans, remove the money and close the account. It's been disappointing.

MarkFromCornwall

guitarman001 wrote: »

I'm actually contacting them now to find out how to end all the loans, remove the money and close the account.

Click on 'Sell'. List your loan parts for sale. If you are in a hurry, offer to sell them at a discount by choosing a negative premium. Once sold, click on 'Transfer money / Transfer out'.