P2P Investing Lacks Female Touch – Plus Loan Latest

Today we bring slightly disconcerting news. Why is it that women are far less likely than men to invest in peer-to-peer loans?  Our friends at P2P Finance News offer an article based on research from Latvian P2P platform Robo.cash. Given that Money&Co. was founded and is led by a woman, our very own Nicola Horlick, we can at least say that some early adopters are definitely female! Here’s an extract from the P2PFN piece.

“While fintech and alternative lending have significantly developed in a decade and are considered to provide huge and equal opportunities for men and women, our own figures show that women are still less likely to invest,” said Robo.cash.

However, women do make larger investments than their male counterparts. The average size of men’s investments is €1,900 (£1,700), while women on average invest €2,700.

According to the Robo.cash research, women usually tend to consider investing in their 30s or 40s and hold 12 per cent of the investment volume made on the platform.

Hungary has the largest share of women investors on the platform with 33 per cent, followed by 23 per cent from Lithuania and 29 per cent from Slovenia.

We’ll revert with our own findings on the UK P2P market later in the year. For now, we have to say most of our lenders are male…

Money&Co. Lenders’ 8 Per Cent Yield

Our lenders have achieved average returns of over 8 per cent on the more than £12 million facilitated by Money&Co. in the past four years. Our latest loan offering is A-rated and property-backed with a fixed-rate yield of 8 per cent, and a term of five years. It’s proving popular, and is currently 32 per cent filled.

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:

  • Step 1: Register as a lender. Go to the login page, and go through the process that the law requires us to effect. This means we have to do basic checks on you to comply with money-laundering and other security requirements.
  • Step 2: Put money into your account. This is best done by electronic transfer. We can also process paper cheques drawn in favour of Denmark Square Limited, the parent company of Money&Co.
  • Step 3: Buy loans in the loan market. Once you’ve put cash in your account it will sit there – and it won’t earn interest until you’ve bought a piece of a loan. It’s this final step that requires lenders and IFISA investors to be pro-active. Just choose some loans – all loans on the Money&Co. site can be held in an IFISA – and your money will start earning tax-free interest.

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.


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Disclaimer: Money&Co.™ is the trading name of Denmark Square Limited, Company Number 08561817, registered in England & Wales, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company is identified on the Financial Services Register under Reference Number 727325. The registered office is 58 Glentham Road, Barnes, London, SW13 9JJ where the register of Directors may be inspected. Denmark Square Limited (ISA manager reference number Z1932) manages the Money&Co. Innovative Finance ISA.