New loans are due on site soon, but meanwhile the two A-rated offerings on site are attract strong interest from registered lenders. Seascape is property-backed and has a fixed yield on offer of 8 per cent. The other loan is a from a steel fabricator, with an indicative yield of 8 per cent (ie, its final yield will be determined by the bids put in by lenders). Our credit committee suggest 8 per cent as a guide or indicative bid, and as the auction closes – in three days’ time, in this case – the more expensive bids will be knocked out. The loan is currently 64 per cent funded.
Lending
The first step is to look at the businesses that have applied for loans from Money&Co. They will all have had their finances checked and been given a credit rating by our credit analysts. Then you can bid for a loan. You need to say how much you want to lend, and at what rate. The auction will close at a specified time. At this point, if the required amount has been raised, the auction closes, and the business will receive its funding, and begin to make monthly payments.
All loans on site are eligible to be held in a Money&Co. Innovative Finance Individual Savings Account (ISA), up to the annual ISA limit of £20,000. Such loans offer lenders tax-free income.
A Process Guide To Innovative Finance ISA Investment
Our offering is an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) that can hold the peer-to-peer (P2P) business loans that Money&Co. facilitates. For the purposes of this article, the terms ISA and IFISA are interchangeable.
So here’s our guide to the process:
The ISA allowance for 2018/19 is unchanged from last tax year at £20,000, allowing a married couple to put £40,000 into a tax-free environment. Over three years, an investment of this scale in two Money&Co. Innovative Finance ISAs would generate £8,400 of income completely free of tax. We’re assuming a 7 per cent return, net of charges and free of tax here.
Once you have made your initial commitment, you might then consider diversifying – buying a spread of loans. To do this, you can go into the “loans for sale” market. All loans bought in this market also qualify for IFISA tax benefits.
Risk: Security, Access, Yield
Do consider not just the return, but the security and the ease of access to your investment. We write regularly about these three key factors. Here’s one of several earlier articles on security, access and yield.