The Norway Global Government Pension Fund is cited as the world's largest sovereign wealth fund by assets; Fund managers have proposed some new changes to the investment guidelines for the Fund which has total assets of £723 billion ($898.27 billion); they are planning to increase the equity allocation threshold to 70% from 60%; the change would increase access to investments with higher returns during a time when fixed income investment yields are extremely low. Source
The P2PFA has added Folk2Folk expanding its membership to nine; Folk2Folk is the only P2P lender in the UK to offer regional branch offices for customers to meet with representatives; the lending platform was authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority in December 2016; it is a secured property small business lender and has lent a total of approximately £134 million ($167.28 million) to small businesses. Source
The Royal Bank of Scotland's NatWest Brand has announced the launch of direct lending platform Esme; the platform will offer loans up to £150,000 ($187,257) for small and medium-sized businesses with approvals in one hour; NatWest developed the Esme platform internally through an innovation lab; the platform was developed to provide a more competitive loan offering and will also support initiatives for cost reduction. Source
UK robo advisor Moola has hired Simon Moore, former chief investment officer of BlackRock's FutureAdvisor; Moola offers BlackRock's products to its clients for a minimum investment of £200 ($249.68); Moore will help the firm expand its investment capabilities and meet the evolving needs of the platform's customers. Source
P2P Global Investments' shares fell 20.7% on the London Stock Exchange in 2016; the fund's portfolio manager Simon Champ provides some insight on the fund's performance; the underlying assets reported a lower than expected 4.1% return due to increased delinquencies from loans at the midpoint of their duration; hedging costs have also been a factor with approximately 60% of US loans in the portfolio; as the investable market expands the fund is likely to increase its investment in European loans to help diversify away from currency risks. Source
UK financial services conglomerate Old Mutual is evaluating its ownership in Old Mutual Asset Management (OMAM) and has decreased its ownership share in the company to 51%; HNA and Advent now appear to be the most interested buyers of the asset management business; while OMAM has discussed a buyout with the potential bidders it appears hesitant to proceed with a sale due to relationships with OMAM's affiliated investment boutiques; it is also nearing a minority stake which would change deal discussions; overall the UK's Old Mutual appears to be headed toward a four way selloff of its businesses including: OMAM, a wealth management company in the UK, an insurance business in South Africa and a stake in Nedbank. Source
The API platform will help support banks connectivity with fintech developers; it will provide easy access for new apps and services while also facilitating new innovative solutions for financial institutions; the platform is designed for universal access allowing developers to offer connectivity to multiple institutions through the TrueLayer API platform; the platform also provides for regulatory compliance; its release will significantly promote the development of fintech apps which now have a substantial market opportunity available in the UK due to PSD2 regulations which require financial institutions to allow third parties to access customer data; the private beta API platform is currently available in the UK and the company has plans for expansion to other countries in Europe in 2017. Source
Chancellor Hammond and the newly established fintech delivery panel will meet in February to discuss the fintech industry; the group's purpose is to drive fintech specific policy recommendations for the UK; 24 industry experts will attend the February meeting including representatives from Funding Circle, Seedrs and MarketInvoice; on April 12 the UK government will also hold the International FinTech Conference in London to connect domestic and international investors with the UK's fintech market. Source
LendingCrowd has launched its innovative finance individual savings accounts (IFISA); the account has a minimum investment of 1,000 British pounds ($1,250); the account investment will be automatically allocated to a portfolio of LendingCrowd loans; the portfolio will target a rate of return of 6% for its investors; the IFISA product has been well received with the Lending Works IFISA launch attracting more than 500,000 British pounds ($624,850) within three hours. Source
The Victory Park Capital Specialty Lending Fund reported a net total return of -1.47% for the fourth quarter of 2016 with its marketplace loan investments dragging on total return; while reporting a loss for the fourth quarter, the fund says "…there has been further progress in the reallocation of capital to balance sheet investments"; the fund increased its balance sheet investments to 51% of the fund's net asset value in the fourth quarter, up from 22% at the beginning of the year; firm continues to reallocate its fund and is also buying back shares. Source