How to invest £20-40k

Fatbritabroad

onlyroz wrote: »

Does anyone have any thoughts on peer-to-peer lending?

I do it as part of my investing but view it as reasonably high risk. i have about 17000 invested over 3-4 platforms. I use lending works which I view as the lower end of the spectrum risk wise and have about 6k in that. 6% in their 5 year accounts though you can Cash out early for a fee

I use ablrate which I view as the very highest end and also have 5k in that split no more than my interest earned (about 400 quid) in each BORROWER (note not loan as many are interlinked borrowers. Interest is 10 to 13% i know many lenders buy heavily into individual loans and then sell down on secondary market but that still seems a bit risky to me but can see why they do it

Finally I use assetz capital for some shorter term lending in their simple 30 day account and view this as mid range between the two.5. 1% but possibly going to use this within a year but not essential that I do so

All are held within isas.

So p2p covers a broad spectrum of risks. Understanding the what you are investing in takes time. And capital most definitely at risk I think the risk of platform default is underrated by many. If I lost 5-15k of course it'd hurt but I count myself as a more risk tolerant investor. I have 60k in s and s. 15k in cash and 150k in pensions and am 37 and a hrt payer. for me average 7 to 8% return is well worth it but don't ever think its safe

Others may disagree

Simon.Edmunds

I've trialled 6 p2p companies and got rid of 5 of them. I only use Bridgecrowd now and very happy with the 12% interest I am getting paid monthly.

Easy to use and invest and more importantly they have never had a loan default in their history.

Fatbritabroad

Ok if you want to put 5k minimum per loan. I'm not sure how much I'd have to have to risk that

Worried_of_wakefield

Kidmugsy, Apologies for jumping in, but I'm researching for investment ideas for a DB lump sum due this year and I'd never really thought about this for a part of my cash, in a nutshell what should I be aware of ( your comment "read the T&C's) when considering multiple bank accounts?

onlyroz

Well I have taken your advice on board and decided to leave the bulk of my money offset against my mortgage for the moment. In addition to this I have:

- Set up a First Direct regular saver for £300 a month which will pay 5% after 12 months
- Set up a £300 a month ISA investment with Fidelity, spread over 6 funds. The plan is that this will gradually build up and I'll keep it as a longer term investment
- Invested £3k in Funding Circle. If this goes well I might invest more in the future.

But I'd still be interested in any opinions on good funds to choose for my ISA.