Citing increasing demand Orca has launched a new standardized investment platform that will be focused to financial advisers and broader P2P investors; Iain Niblock, CEO of Orca, stated, "Although P2P investments offer stable, predictable risk-adjusted returns and great diversification for investors, there has been virtually no uptake since financial advisers were permitted to suggest their clients consider P2P products last year."; the platform will focus on interest rates, default rates, subprime rates and a proprietary Orca scoring methodology. Source
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Online Lending
Consumer lenders Lending Club and Prosper are reporting growth in originations; for the second quarter Lending Club loan originations reached $2.1473 billion, increasing 10% from the previous quarter and the second quarter of 2016; Prosper originated $774.7 million worth of loans in the second quarter of 2017, an increase from $586 million in Q1 and $445 million in the second quarter of 2016; both companies had high Q1 2016 originations which has kept first half 2017 totals down in comparison to 2016. Source
Big banks reported their seventh consecutive month of increased approval rates at 24.1%; small bank lending approvals decreased in February to 48.8% from 48.9%; institutional lending approvals reached a new high of 63.5%; the approval rate for credit unions remained at 40.8%; the loan approval rate for alternative lenders decreased to 58.4% from 58.5% in January and has been trending lower over the past twelve months with February 2016 reporting an approval rate of 60.8%. Source
