There’s been quite an exciting development at Growth Street. I use the word “exciting” to mean it’s a story with a lot of bang, rather than good news. Certainly not for me, as it reveals a mistake by me. Probably my biggest since co-founding 4thWay….
We’re still down several persons for our Panel of Peers, so I hope you’ll consider volunteering. The Panel governs 4thWay on behalf of all lenders to ensure it remains independent. 4thWay’s Panel of Peers maintains our accuracy, impartiality, and candid research. I’m glad to say…
Note that this page was last updated in December 2019. Most people benefit from automatic tax breaks on peer-to-peer lending as explained in our guide: How Is Peer-to-Peer Lending Taxed? However, not everyone does, which can make lending through a pension attractive. And there are other advantages…
At 10.48am yesterday (Wednesday, 23 October), UK financial regulator the Financial Conduct Authority released this notice. This made public the news that regulated P2P lending website FundingSecure had gone bust, with CG Recovery Ltd (CGRL) appointed as administrators to the failed platform. FundingSecure operated a…
We try to explain peer-to-peer lending in What Is Peer-to-Peer Lending? However, it can sometimes be easier in an image. So we’ve created one for you called “How Peer-to-Peer Lending Works – For Investors”. Click on it to open it up. There is a mobile-friendly…
There’s a lot for lenders to learn about the Growth Street ISA, launched in 2019. Take a dive into all the important aspects right here, and find out how it compares to the Growth Street’s ordinary lending account. The Growth Street ISA is covered by…
Landbay has just announced that a “major financial institution” will lend another £1 billion through it. Landbay has previously arranged over £300 million in loans, with most of that coming from regular lenders. I asked Landbay* some of the key questions that our experts at…
HNW Lending PLUS Rating update HNW Lending now has 3/3 PLUSes – the highest and top 4thWay PLUS Rating – on both its senior loans and junior loans. Previously, its junior loans had a 2/3 PLUS Rating. For junior loans, its 4thWay Risk Score ticked…
This is just a brief note on the two recent P2P lending site closures. Lendy has closed after lenders suffered a high amount of late and bad debt, as well as very expensive legal problems, among other things. (I wrote about some of its issues…
In May, the most interesting and well-written comment about peer-to-peer lending or IFISAs that is posted on 4thWay’s discussion boards, or the most interesting emailed contribution we receive, will win £100 if we choose to publish it. We may even pay out for more than…
4thWay’s experts are now part-way through their latest reassessment of the P2P lending sites’ (and P2P IFISA providers’) 4thWay PLUS Ratings. As usual, they took the opportunity to make measurable improvements to our ratings methodology. All the improvements make the 4thWay team feel better, because…
2018 was another record year for peer-to-peer lending, with several big players passing major milestones last year. Big numbers and positive returns During 2018, Zopa passed the £4 billion mark for cumulative lending since launching in 2005, while cumulative loans at RateSetter passed £3 billion…
From our point of view, it was never a good start for Lendy, formerly called Saving Stream. Since the beginning, it never passed the basic, simple tests cited in principles one and three of 4thWay’s 10 P2P Investing Principles. In short, Lendy hasn’t provided enough…
We have some rare information about CrowdProperty‘s performance and it looks like it is finally opening up, allowing a wee bit of analysis of some the risks. This is great for me, because I’ve suspected that this is one of the rare P2P lending sites…
Proplend has launched an auto-lend feature for its “tranche A” property loans, whether you lend through its regular account or its IFISA. Proplend’s tranche A loans are for a maximum of 50% of the property’s valuation. Many loans are against properties that are earning income for…
The collapse of a green-energy project that was crowdfunded to the tune of £3.9 million gives valuable lessons to individuals funding new and complicated infrastructure products through peer-to-peer lending sites. Here’s what happened followed by 10 lessons for lenders in future. What was the loan…
LendingCrowd’s Growth and Income peer-to-peer lending accounts, including the IFISA versions, have now earned “Excellent” 4thWay PLUS Ratings. Previously, just LendingCrowd’s Self Select lending account and IFISA had earned a rating. Why have these accounts been upgraded so soon? The two LendingCrowd* accounts have been…
[orangebox title=”Page Summary – 2 Minute Read”] 4thWay’s credit-investment specialists, bank risk-modelling experts and investors first developed the peer-to-peer lending and P2P IFISA ratings system in 2014. 4thWay PLUS Ratings incorporate both the rewards – the interest you earn – as well as the biggest risk…
Peer-to-peer lending is lending directly to individuals or businesses, including, sometimes, property owners. IFISAs is usually the same, with the advantage that any interest you earn and gains you make are always tax free. However, there can be a minor catch to watch out for….
Peer-to-peer lending website Collateral UK went out of business in February 2018. It was quickly alleged to be operating without the correct permission from the financial regulator. It now appears to have appointed administrators, who we can expect to wind down the website and existing…
