Don't invest unless you’re prepared to lose money. This is a high-risk investment. You may not be able to access your money easily and are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
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Crowdfunding Tips – Use Common Sense, Do You Homework
Our latest loan offering is an A-rated loan of over £455,000. The borrower is an independent adviser looking to use the funds to expand. The loan auction closes in 15 days’ time. The offering has attracted bids of over £36,000 today, at the time of writing, and is 56 per cent funded.
The way the auction process works means that cheaper bids will knock out the more expensive offers of credit once the notional 100 per cent limit has been reached.
Take the trouble to understand what you’re putting money into. The things that you can gain access to via a crowdfunding platform such as Money&Co. are typically different from traditional bank accounts and savings products. They are a different type of asset, an alternative way of deploying money in what is known as the alternative finance sector.
Avoid the common confusion between equity crowdfunding – which gets a lot of attention in the media – and debt or loan crowdfunding. Money&Co. is simply a way of bringing people and businesses together through the mechanism of our internet platform. We are a peer-to-per (P2P) business-lending platform.
Bear in mind that you’re lending to a borrowing company. You’re not lending to Money&Co. We vet the borrowing companies using a rigorous credit-analysis process. We’re an intermediary, charging a fee. The P2P loan is directly between you and the company, and is facilitated by us.
Examine the borrowers’ proposals in detail. We use our best endeavours to ensure that every representation of the borrower is true – about the market, the prospects, the company’s track record, the reason for the loan, the veracity of the audited accounts, etc. But we cannot and do not warrant that this is so.
Don’t be seduced by yield. The returns can be attractive, but a high yield can mean high risk.
Our loans are only offered if our borrowers are free of all other debt, and have a track record of sustained profit. Moreover, Money&Co. takes a charge on the assets of the company, which is exercisable if a borrower defaults. The relevant assets could then be sold and used to reimburse lenders. As yet, after two years’ trading, no borrowers are in default. See our recent article on Money&Co.’s conservative attitude to vetting deals.
That said, remember that when lending, capital is at risk.