Ratesetter

redpete

Zero_Sum wrote: »

I tried LW a few months back & money was sat waiting to be lent out for over a week so withdrew it & gave up on it.

How long would you be waiting on RS to get the same level of interest (I suspect considerably longer).

redpete

Aidanmc wrote: »

I'm considering investing in an IF ISA with Ratesetter. It would be my first time to invest in an IF product. I would be interested to hear others experiences with Ratesetter.
I understand these investments are not FSCS protected.

I've been with RS for 6 months (and Lending Works for 3 months).

I put lump sums into the 5 yr market and monthly interest and repayments get re-invested into the 1 yr market, just my way of managing how much capital is tied up and for how long. RS split larger amounts across several loans; this does not give you additional diversification as the provision fund does this but it does mean that early repaid loans have less of an impact. I have only had one load paid early over the time.

It does take some effort to get higher interest rates - auto-reinvestment just gets the 'market rate' that can be pretty low at times; choosing your own desired rate takes the effort and can mean your money is out of the market for a time.

I wouldn't put a large proportion of my savings / investment into P2P, even less into a single provider. (Certainly not 'most of my pension savings' that I read somewhere on here.) Schemes like the provision fund do give some protection but if there was a serious economic crisis there would likely be many more defaults than could be covered by provision funds, and all providers would suffer problems to some degree.

Zero_Sum

redpete wrote: »

How long would you be waiting on RS to get the same level of interest (I suspect considerably longer).

True. But it then comes down is it better to get it loaned out earlier at a lower rate than sit & wait, when money is sat not earning?

aroominyork

Alexland wrote: »

They are only really worth investing the minimum to get a signup bonus. Otherwise it's not really enough reward for the risk.

Not sure I agree. RS was, according to 4thway.co.uk, profitable before investing in another growth spurt so the platform itself is relatively stable. It seems more responsibly managed than say Funding Circle (which I am trying to extricate myself from) and the Provision Fund is transparently operated. It's the one year market I like - at least I did when I could get 5.5% on it - a decent rate and not tied up for too long.

quirkydeptless

I invested £1000 just over a year ago, lured by a £100 sign up bonus which landed recently. I got about 4.1% interest too.


Very easy to operate for a P2P noob like myself, and the withdrawal (after the bonus arrived) was in my Ratesetter pot instantly, and my bank account the next day.


I invested in the 5 year originally, with a re-investment into the rolling. I used the default rate initially, which meant I got some really sucky interest rates in the rolling.


My 5-year loans got mostly repaid early, so I've just got a about £50 left there at 5.8%


I've taken another dabble this year with £2000 in Growth Street for £200 bonus and £500 in Kuflink for a £100 bonus.

[Deleted User]

Have used Ratesetter also, due to the sign up bonus offered. My experience has been positive, with the bonus paid without need to chase.

The standard interest rate is a bit better than your average savings account, but as you say not protected by FSCS; in risk terms I would therefore consider it an investment.

With bonus factored in, RS offers a good return for the first year, which can be a good alternative to a longer term investment (such as shares) if you have a route for the cash in the foreseeable future.

When you're saving with RS, the money will probably be tied up for a time; don't depend on instant access to it.

Aidanmc

Thanks everyone for replies. Think i might invest £1000, leave it a year to get the bonus and then take it from there.
Is 1 year fix usually better than the rolling market? Yesterday the rolling market had higher % than the fix. Today the fix is 3.5% and rolling 2.7%. I guess this changes a lot.

N1ckS

1 year fix is currently showing at 4% for me at the moment but yes the rolling market can sometimes be higher. Personally I think the best option is the 5 year income market and then set-up auto-withdraw after the bonus is paid if you wish to reduce your exposure. I remember reading a while back that the loans in the 5 year income market may in fact be safer due to the type of borrowers the funds are lent to although I can't find the discussion/article at the moment.

Alexland

jscol wrote: »

I had to do a little bit of chasing too.

They did stump up fairly quickly after a phone call.

They added my late £100 bonus today so I am releasing my investments and closing the account.

Zero_Sum

Rates are back upto 5.8% ish