Wise Alpha

economic

Anyone heard of Wise Alpha? Good platform? Looking at the smart bond paying 7% for 7 years, no fee. Any thoughts?

ColdIron

You've been around long enough I'm surprised you have to ask

• Our products are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
• You are not participating directly in the senior secured loans or bonds issued by companies
• There is a risk that the Sellers of the senior secured loans or bonds could default resulting in a loss of your income and capital
• Participations in non-readily realisable securities are illiquid, meaning they are harder to trade, which makes them a higher risk investment than directly held listed investments

economic

thanks but i know all that, just wanted to find out if its worth investing in. 7% seems quite high for a pool of corporate bonds. was wondering if there is a catch?

Zanderman

Yes, the catch is that rather than getting 7% you could lose the lot.

Alexland

Economic - having been on the forums for several years how have you not seen all the threads about these types of high yield / high risk opportunities?

ColdIron

To be fair it's not the usual mini-bond but many of the risks remain
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/diyinvesting/article-3612646/Now-invest-directly-corporate-loans-just-100.html

jimjames

After seeing this post I was surprised to see an advert on Facebook for this outfit tonight, it looks like their ramping up their promotion

firestone

i have been reading this forum for about a year and have invested for over 40 years starting with the Post office in the 60's & then index linked bonds in the 70's moving on to IT's,funds & trackers later in life so i am not looking for a fast buck.
it would be pointless to push this product in a first post & yes they are high risk with no compensation scheme.But I have seen mention off them over the last 2 years on a few money/newspaper sites & also on the P2p Independent forum.They would seem to sit in that fintech market alongside Abundance,Landbay,Octopus choice,Zopa etc rather the energy,car parking,solar panel offerings.
l have kept an eye on them and with loan notes (not bonds) offering only 4% for the likes of Ocado up to 7% for the likes of Shop Direct they are not pushing high returns quick results.
As i already hold bond funds from Gam,Royal london & Twentyfour in my pensions/Isa i have not invested.But the idea behind it of taking bonds which can only be bought in large sums( £100,000 i believe )and breaking them down into smaller sums for people to earn a fixed income seems a good idea that the likes of HL or another investment company could take a look at as an alternative to a cash account and would then be backed by a bigger platform.

grey_gym_sock

in some ways, this does seem similar to a high-yield bond fund.

but does it lack some of the regulatory protections (in term of separation of assets, and FSCS cover) which you get when you buy a standard OEIC or unit trust?

Linton

The apparent blanket condemnation of all higher risk bonds we are seeing on this board is very ill conceived. In my view they can provide a perfectly sensible investment both for diversification and income.

The problem is that a few are outright scams and some others are promoted as alternatives to bank deposits when they are much closer to being an alternative to equity.

The access Wise Alpha provides to specific non-retail bonds could be very useful although its current range of offerings looks rather limited. However the question GGS raises about separation of assets is an important concern which I would want clarified before considering any investment.

le_loup

Linton wrote: »

The apparent blanket condemnation of all higher risk bonds we are seeing on this board is very ill conceived.

I think it's more the "innocent" first time posters that are clearly promoting the investment that gets up peoples noses.

On the other hand, high coupon means high risk and if people really are enquiring, they need to be told.