LendInvest is a P2P (peer to peer) business lender. It is debt funding for residential and commercial mortgages and all loans are secured against property. As an investor you are the lender giving money to the borrower.
Key facts and figures
Launched: 2013
Minimum investment: £1000
Minimum term: Subject to loan length, rarely under three years
Requirements to invest: Must be over 18, have a bank or building society account and complete Money Laundering Regulations compliance checks. Can be from outside UK, but not USA. Must also pay tax on earnings.
Cumulative volume lent: £290 436 961
Type of borrowers: Individuals and businesses
Most common reasons for loan: Residential and commercial mortgages
Money lent in last 12 months: £219 841 529
P2P market share % over last 3 months according to Liberum AltFi Volume Index UK: 14.77%
Returns (according to LendInvest 1 May 2015)
Average net returns of 6.65% PA
Getting started
Create an account on their website.
Fund your account by transferring funds to your account.
Getting money on the platform
Done by sending a bank transfer to the Lendinvest client account
Do investors get a choice in who or what they invest in?
Yes, you can view and assess information on each available loan before making investment decisions. There is also an “auto-invest” option (discussed below).
Investing your money
Their auto-invest function comprises an automatic selection and management service which enables you to purchase a number of different receivables using the platform. It allows you to invest your funds according to specific criteria.
When using the Auto-Invest function to purchase receivables, you specify the maximum total amount which you wish to use towards purchase receivables and the maximum amount which you wish to commit to each Receivables Purchase Agreement.
You can view “offers of sale” for receivables on the platform, and put in a “purchase request”. Once the sale target for the offer has been reached, you receive a Receivables Purchase Agreement electronically through the platform.
Once you sign the Receivables Purchase Agreement the platform will show the Purchase Amount as having been debited from your user account and transfer the same amount from the LendInvest Funds User Account to the seller’s account (the seller of the receivables, who will collect them and deposit to LendInvest).
Normally, repayments due under the Loan Agreement will be paid to you within 3 business days of receipt from the borrower, although the dates on which interest will be paid may vary subject to the Receivables Purchase Agreement.
Monitoring your account
LendInvest’s online account lets you view copies of the contracts for each loan you have invested in, view a history of your investments, view account balance and your recent transactions online.
Understanding the risks
All loans through LendInvest are secured against property and registered by way of a legal charge, which is registered at Land Registry.
As with any investment, capital is at risk.
As the underlying loan is secured against property, the value of your investment can go down, as can the value of the property securing the loan.
Withdrawing money
You will not be capable of de-registering at any time when you have existing portfolios. Termination of the user agreement will not entitle you to withdraw from the Receivables Purchase Agreements to which you are committed.
Interest is received monthly on the first day of the month.
