There’s a hidden cost that we at 4thWay have not given much attention to so far, but we’ve just had an email from one of you about it. It’s called “cash drag”. Cash drag is when you have money sitting in your P2P lending account…
We have had a lot of requests for updates on the big three P2P lending sites, namely Zopa, Funding Circle and RateSetter. There’s an awful lot of important things to say about each of them, so here goes: Zopa Core earns a 4thWay PLUS Rating…
Prime personal loans P2P lending site Lending Works* is one of a smaller number of P2P lending sites that uses insurance to protect lenders from specific situations. What the insurance does for lenders Lending Works’ insurance could pay out if and when a borrower is unable…
Not enough time to read this 4,000 word report? See the simple, plain English summary here. In this report: The Guardian says: RateSetter was hit by £80m of problem loans. Is that true? Significant mistakes admitted by RateSetter. The risks and rewards at RateSetter have…
One of my colleagues wrote a 4,000-word report on RateSetter, explaining some recent troubles it has had as well as his opinion on whether individual lenders should sell RateSetter loans now. It’s called Fact Check: RateSetter Hit By £80m Of Struggling Loans. I know that…
There are very few P2P lending sites that have given me the feeling of 100% honesty and openness that we at 4thWay also aim for, but I certainly feel that from CapitalStackers. Jumping through hoops For a P2P lending site to get listed on 4thWay,…
In a recent article, one of his first for 4thWay, freelance investment journalist Cliff D’Arcy suggested the maximum amount that any of us should lend through P2P is 5% or at most 10% of our wealth. Susan, a 4thWay reader, told me on the phone…
Scott is a 4thWay reader to whom I am grateful since he takes the trouble to send us much needed feedback. (Hint hint. You can send your praise, requests and constructive criticism to allofus@4thway.co.uk. Thanks!) Scott just asked me if, in the light of new…
Among politicians, advertisers, big companies and brands, the biggest buzzword by far these days is ‘Millennials’. But what are Millennials and how are they making money from peer-to-peer (P2P) lending? Are you a Millennial? Loosely speaking, you’re a Millennial, also known as ‘Generation Y’, if…
The safest type of lending is lending to borrowers who own investment properties. This means lending to landlords who own and rent out any of the following: Residential properties (houses and flats). Shops. Offices. Factories. Car parks. Workshops. Other land or properties. What makes investment-property lending…
Making adequate retirement provision is one of the most difficult financial challenges facing British adults today. How high your retirement income will be depends on a number of complex factors and choices, including: Over how long a period you invest How much of your income…
It’s exciting for me to see changes in 4thWay’s comparison tables, but how are the different P2P lending products in those tables ranked from top to bottom? And how has this enabled new entrant Growth Street to go straight to the top of the table?…
Cliff is an experienced journalist hired in as 4thWay’s “Chief P2P Cynic” to give you the alternative view. Read about Cliff. A couple of months ago, towards the end of March, I had a one-to-one meeting with a leading light of the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending…
It’s very early days still for LendingCrowd, but so far it’s a tale of two halves: LendingCrowd’s lower-risk loans are easily on track for the top 5/5 4thWay PLUS Rating. But its higher-risk loans do not currently appear to pay lenders enough interest to cover…
The fact of the matter is that Funding Circle is absolutely the stand-out leader in unsecured business lending: It has a very long and large history to assess its record: £2 billion in loans since 2010. No-one else comes close. Its performance has been highly admirable…
Recently I was a bit confused about the difference between Assetz Capital’s various products, in particular when you want to get early access or get your money lent quickly. After asking Assetz Capital for clarity, I just want to quickly share this with you in…
Some P2P lending sites have to make changes to satisfy the financial regulator, which could mean you sometimes have to wait weeks before all your money is lent. The Financial Conduct Authority has frowned upon pre-funded loans in some cases. “Pre-funded” means that either the…
Question from anonymous 4thWay reader “I have been investing in P2Ps for a number of years now. These include RateSetter, Zopa, Lending Works* and Landbay*. My experience across all four has, in general, been good. “Last November I invested £8,500 with Funding Circle for the…
Crowd2Fund does business loans and it is available in an IFISA (a tax-free P2P lending account) paying 8.5% or more before bad debts. I’m going to show you one way to select individual business loans to lend in at Crowd2Fund for yourself, rather than relying…
Bad debt: that’s when a loan goes past just being “late” into what’s called “default” or “non-performing”, and even beyond – when not all that debt can be recovered and it is “written off”, never to be seen by lenders again. Bad debts are a fact…
