New EASY ISA - targets 4.05%

Pablo_Wino

I've started researching this having seen it advertised in an EasyJet inflight magazine. Target 7.28% for the "balanced" product sounds quite appealing I thought. Obviously there's the default risk, offset by a charge over property; is the forum tempted by this higher rate?

masonic

Pablo_Wino wrote: »

I've started researching this having seen it advertised in an EasyJet inflight magazine. Target 7.28% for the "balanced" product sounds quite appealing I thought. Obviously there's the default risk, offset by a charge over property; is the forum tempted by this higher rate?

Up to 75% LTV. I suppose it depends whether the property is in a good state of repair or a building site. Loans averaging 12% on a maximum LTV of 70% are available elsewhere.

Unfortunately it looks like I need to sign up an account just to see what sort of thing I'd be investing in.

Alexland

If you decide to take this product there is TopCashBack available depending on your initial investment value:

https://www.topcashback.co.uk/easymoneyfinance/

Alex

Pablo_Wino

@Masonic, yes it will be useful to know more about the underlying investments. Where do you see 12% elsewhere at 70% LTV?

masonic

Pablo_Wino wrote: »

@Masonic, yes it will be useful to know more about the underlying investments. Where do you see 12% elsewhere at 70% LTV?

Of the platforms I actively use: Ablrate, Moneything and FundingSecure. There are also others.

janesmith

It's been about a year since the above discussion on easyMoney and so I was wondering if there is any update from EM lenders?

Have they diversified you across more than a tiny number of investments?

What are actual investments they've put your funds into? Do they give a detailed insight?

The loan performance metrics for 2018 published on their site are near enough "perfect", but obviously the long-term track record is not there.

The website has very little information compared to other P2P platforms.

Seems to be a very small operation. Only about five staff on Linkedin.

Their Twitter account has only been added to once since 3 October 2018 last year. These and many other aspects don't give one much confidence.

On the other hand, all the seven reviews on Google reviews are positive.

Thoughts?

Pablo_Wino

Since this discussion last year I have invested in EM and a couple of other P2P sites. They are all different. EM is the least transparent as I have no idea what each loan is that they have invested my money into. The diversification is slow, and uneven - I am now spread across about 10 loans, but one of them still makes up 1/3 of the total. However, it is paying a good return, especially for a completely hands-off product, though I am putting faith in the EasyXXX brand to look after my interests. In a sense this operates like a bank for me, but with higher risk and return.

I also invest in a much higher yielding P2P site, but have kept my exposure far lower, since a very high proportion of the loans are non-performing at various times. I haven't lost any capital yet, and in theory it is comfortably secured, but it feels really dodgy.

The third that I invest in is totally in my control, I know the details of every loan, and I have bought into about 30 loans, evenly spreading the risk. This is the most secure-feeling of the three, with zero apparent incidence of default, but of course the platform risk is still there. It also pays about 1.5% less return on average than EM, and I have to be regularly reviewing it to make sure that I quickly re-invest any repayments and don't end up with interest free cash sitting on account.

janesmith

Pablo_Wino wrote: »

Since this discussion last year I have invested in EM and a couple of other P2P sites. They are all different. EM is the least transparent as I have no idea what each loan is that they have invested my money into. The diversification is slow, and uneven - I am now spread across about 10 loans, but one of them still makes up 1/3 of the total. However, it is paying a good return, especially for a completely hands-off product, though I am putting faith in the EasyXXX brand to look after my interests. In a sense this operates like a bank for me, but with higher risk and return.

I also invest in a much higher yielding P2P site, but have kept my exposure far lower, since a very high proportion of the loans are non-performing at various times. I haven't lost any capital yet, and in theory it is comfortably secured, but it feels really dodgy.

The third that I invest in is totally in my control, I know the details of every loan, and I have bought into about 30 loans, evenly spreading the risk. This is the most secure-feeling of the three, with zero apparent incidence of default, but of course the platform risk is still there. It also pays about 1.5% less return on average than EM, and I have to be regularly reviewing it to make sure that I quickly re-invest any repayments and don't end up with interest free cash sitting on account.

Thank you for sharing your insights. That's incredibly helpful.
The fact that EM are opaque about where they invest your money does concern me. On top of that they haven't updated their website, Twitter, Facebook etc. for months and months, so one never knows what's happening with them or even if they are about to close down. Often with these "easy..." branded companies, they close down with little or no notice. On the other hand, EM could just be thriving but are too busy to update their social media etc.
I'd be curious to know which other P2P platforms you're investing in, as I invest in a few places myself. But it might be deemed as promoting them so I'll send you a Direct Message.

masonic

It's absolutely fine to discuss specific platforms here. In fact it is recommended and safer to do so in the open forum, rather than by PM.

Alexland

Pablo_Wino wrote: »

EM is the least transparent as I have no idea what each loan is that they have invested my money into.

Yes when I considered EasyMoney it just wasn't clear how the money was invested so if as a customer you are still unsure that's no good for judging risk/reward. Out of interest, are the EasyMoney Plus membership discounts any better than you could get via TopCashBack or Quidco?

Alex