Rod Lockhart

LendInvest

CEO

Rod joined LendInvest in 2015 to lead the business’ Capital Markets and Fund Management division. Within that time he oversaw LendInvest’s AUM grow from £100m to £1.8bn and managed the launch of its listed Retail bond and RMBS programmes. Rod became Chief Executive Officer of LendInvest in January 2020. Rod is a Chartered Surveyor with 17 years’ experience in property and property finance. He was previously Senior Director and a board member of the Investment Advisory Committee for CBRE. There, as well as advising LendInvest on its Real Estate Opportunity Fund, he advised UK and global institutional clients and managed a range of property and property debt portfolios.

Event Sessions Featuring Rod Lockhart

   


Fireside Chat

Why we see ourselves as a fintech-powered asset management platform

AltFi Amsterdam Summit 2018 - Monday 5 November 2018

LendInvest has transitioned from a fund management bussiness when it launched in 2008, to a marketplace lender, and now to an asset management platform.

Instead of travelling the world meeting clients, it was more efficient to build a platform to raise capital. Now the platform is approached by individuals of high net worth through word of mouth and referrals rather than advertising. 

Angelie said LendInvest can approve a mortgage in two weeks which is half the time it takes for other banks, without increasing the risk exposure. 

The mortgage industry is still growing and changing so there is much more to happen. Therefore an IPO by LendInvest is not essential right now. 


Panel

The direct lending opportunity in property

The Alternative Property Forum - Tuesday 19 June 2018

  • Emma said that ‘direct lending’ means different things to different people, depending on the funding source and end customers.

  • Rod clarified that LendInvest is not a P2P platform – he now sees the business as an ‘alternative fund manager’, and it is registered with the FCA as such.

  • Andrea said that, when looking at this space, institutional investors will consider the track records of lenders, the people on board, the technology that is used to support the business, and methods of ensuring they have skin in the game.

  • Rod also said that operating an off-balance sheet model (such as P2P) is a great way to scale a lender quickly and efficiently.


Keynote

Unlocking opportunities in alternative property: where to look and why now

The Alternative Property Forum - Tuesday 19 June 2018

  • Rod said that LendInvest is looking to use technology to lend more ‘efficiently’ than its competitors.

  • “We have to focus on the parts of the market that we feel we can lend competitively into.”

  • He made the point that all the people at the banks who had expertise in the type of finance provided by LendInvest have now long-since left, in the years following the financial crash and subsequent regulatory crackdown.

  • This last point was part of Rod’s case for the long-term future of alternative property lenders. He also cited continued regulatory capital controls for banks, legacy tech, and the fact that the supply of housebuilding remains low despite the government’s best efforts. He did concede, however, that the next ten years won’t be as easy as the last ten years have been for alternative lenders.


Panel

Myth or reality? Fintech is expanding access to financial services

London Summit 2018 - Monday 26 March 2018

  • Ratesetter’s Lewis says it’s underestimated how hard it is to access financial services on the investor side and that P2P is helping with that.
  • Baclin agrees that more than 10 years later P2P lending is still radical in the way it opens access to finance for both borrowers and lenders.
  • Lockhart says fintech has the ability to give customers a much better experience than traditional financial services as well as exposure to an asset investors may not have had access to before.


Panel

Workforce woes: Will Brexit cause a tech talent drain in the UK?

AltFi Global Summit 2017 - Tuesday 7 November 2017


Roundtable (Breakout)

Alternative credit

AltFi Europe Summit 2017 - Thursday 30 March 2017


Panel

Standardisation, positioning, or track record: What's the key for long‐term capital managers?

AltFi Europe Summit 2017 - Thursday 30 March 2017



Articles Featuring Rod Lockhart

LendInvest debuts new retail bonds at 6.5% yield

14th July 2022 | Oliver Smith

LendInvest doubles AuM to £2bn in 30 months

11th April 2022 | John Reynolds

JP Morgan buys £100m BTL book from LendInvest

22nd September 2021 | Daniel Lanyon

Fintech’s biggest hires and departures of 2020

5th January 2021 | Aisling Finn

LendInvest fund sees 40% growth in assets

18th December 2019 | Daniel Lanyon