Wise alpha views?

Fatbritabroad

I currently have a couple of k in ratesetter p2p which will shortly mature for the bonus and am debating what to do with it. I also invest via an isa in ablrate and the majority of my investments are in a well diversified s and s isa so this 2k plus interest is money happy to place in other higher risk assets.

I've just come across wise alpha via a personal finance blog. I'd never heard of this but seems to be a way of lending g money to ftse 350 businesses. Can also be done via an isa. Anyone else use this or have a view?

firestone

i am sure i have seen the question on here before about them and the views were some what negative as most people have not heard of them.But if you look on the P2P indie forum they have there own sub board and it would seem that people are happy so far and have being get their payments etc(but that view could soon change obviously) so would seem not to be a mini bond or even a scam but a genuine company trying to use a crowdfunding idea. All be it very risky compared to a bond fund

Malthusian

You aren't actually investing in FTSE 350 businesses, you invest in WiseAlpha and in turn they invest in FTSE 350 corporate notes. Your investment with WiseAlpha mirrors the FTSE 350 corporate note, minus an admin fee.

If WiseAlpha goes bankrupt then all the loan notes would be sold and the investors should receive the proceeds according to which firms they invested in. This "forced sale" creates a risk - WiseAlpha's bankruptcy would force you to receive the current market value of the underlying loan notes, even if you'd prefer for them to carry on until maturity.

Also, you are relying on the fact that WiseAlpha is in fact investing in the underlying loan notes and ringfencing its clients' assets correctly. There's no reason to think this isn't the case, but as WiseAlpha is only a few years old and domiciled in the Virgin Islands, no real way of checking either.

Fatbritabroad

Ok thanks that alone would preclude me from handing g over even a couple of k !!!55357;!!!56841;

TheLastMongoose

My Ratesetter bonus is due in a few days too. I'm pretty much decided that I will withdraw the money. In my case I will move the money in to regular savers etc. until I see an opportunity I like. I simply don't see the point of having the risk for a difference of 1% over widely available reg saver/fixed term savings rates. Apart from the first years bonus Ratesetter seems like risk with little reward.

Wise Alpha looks interesting...too interesting for any significant sum for my taste.

firestone

EJS_Superted wrote: »

My Ratesetter bonus is due in a few days too. I'm pretty much decided that I will withdraw the money. In my case I will move the money in to regular savers etc. until I see an opportunity I like. I simply don't see the point of having the risk for a difference of 1% over widely available reg saver/fixed term savings rates. Apart from the first years bonus Ratesetter seems like risk with little reward.

Wise Alpha looks interesting...too interesting for any significant sum for my taste.

Not a recommendation but an observation - when looking at Ratesetter 18 months back after reading the MSE guide i was put off slightly by the need to keep an eye on the rate. So I ended up with Lending works and my average has been 5.5% for a pay & forget product.They are smaller then RS & Zopa and come with the risk of P2P but could be worth a look if you feel brave again

Fatbritabroad

Also I may be missing something but as the interest is paid monthly does it not compound up to a bit higher than the 3% advertised say? I was looking at moneything as well

firestone

Fatbritabroad wrote: »

Also I may be missing something but as the interest is paid monthly does it not compound up to a bit higher than the 3% advertised say? I was looking at moneything as well

would guess yes - should be on any companies site i.e on the Landbay site the rate is shown as 3.49% but 3.54% if the income is reinvested

Thrugelmir

With an annual management 1% fee. Better off saving up and buying a £1k of a long dated stock direct, e.g. TESCO 4.875% 2042.

Fatbritabroad

Thanks thurgelmir sorry for the daft question where do you buy such things can you buy them in your isa platform? Eg I'm with Charles stanley direct. I've never bought anything other but than funds

bxboards

I've been with Wisealpha for over a year, and got in when they were offering the 8% bonds back in Feb 2017 - the 1 year bond paid out last week, and the money + interest was all in my bank account this week.

I am not so keen on the smart interest portfolio myself - I think the way to go is to hand pick bonds (technically 'notes')

I am happy with them, and still have money with them, although I took a lot back out when the 8% bond paid back.