In collaboration with Energy 4 Impact, UKAid and the CME Group Foundation, the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance has released a study on crowdfunding and P2P lending in Africa and the Middle East; Lend Academy provides details of the report in their article; covers 46 countries in Africa and 12 countries in the Middle East, featuring data on 70 alternative platforms. Source
Lend Academy provides details on the tax documents you will receive as an investor in Lending Club or Prosper loans; most investors will receive a 1099-OID which details taxable interest income from investing; other forms may also include a 1099-MISC or a 1099-B; income earned from P2P loan investing is taxed as ordinary income; Lend Academy also outlines details on capital losses and capital loss carryovers which can vary by state. Source
Lending Club is offering a bonus for IRA investors; Lend Academy provides details in their article; any investor who opens or adds to an IRA account with at least a $5,000 investment by April 30, 2017 will receive a bonus; bonuses range from $150 to $3,000 for investments from $5,000 to $100,000 and over. Source
Lending Club has announced an auto refinancing product targeting consumers; Lend Academy provides more details in their article with insight from Todd Denbo, Vice President of Consumer Auto Lending at Lending Club; Lending Club seeks to help make the auto refinancing process easier for borrowers; finds a $40 billion market for auto refinancing which it thinks will expand with greater convenience for consumers in obtaining auto refinancing. Source
Lending Club has announced their second quarter earnings results; originations were up 10% sequentially to $2.15 billion; quarterly originations have been hovering around $1.9 billion since Q2 of last year; the second quarter also marked the second highest revenue generating quarter for the company; bank participation made up 44% of the funding for the quarter; Lending Club focused on developing testing infrastructure for borrower take rates which included a website redesign; guidance was adjusted upwards for the third quarter and the full year. Source
Lending Club released its fourth quarter and full year earnings results on Tuesday, February 14; Lend Academy provides details of the earnings release in their article; the lender originated $8.6 billion in loans for 2016; net operating revenue for the year was $495.5 million, up from $426.7 million in 2015; net income fell to -$146 million from -$5 million in 2015; banks increasingly returned to the platform in the fourth quarter of 2016 funding 31% of loans, an increase from 18% in the third quarter. Source
Lending Club's stock increased $0.76 for a 15% gain on Monday after reporting third quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations; company also announced a new partnership with Credigy who will be investing up to $1.3 billion in Lending Club's loans; Lend Academy provides details on the company's earnings report in their article; highlights from the earnings report include revenue of $112.61 million, up from $102.4 million in the second quarter; earnings per share of -$0.04, up from -$0.09 in the second quarter; loan originations also increased with total third quarter volume of $1.97 billion, up from $1.96 billion in the second quarter however still significantly down from their high of $2.75 billion in the first quarter of 2016. Source
LendingRobot has announced the launch of a new alternative lending hedge fund; Lend Academy provides details in their article; the new fund will add to the service offerings at LendingRobot which currently include aggregated marketplace lending investment accounts for both retail investors and financial advisors; the new LendingRobot Series fund will invest in online loan origination platforms and offer multiple strategies for investors with expected net returns ranging from 6.86% to 9.66%; the fund is only open to accredited investors and requires a minimum investment of $100,000; it has a 1% management fee with fund expenses of up to 0.59%. Source
Lend Academy summarizes the activity of past LendIt PitchIt finalists in their article; a LendIt competition for startup businesses, PitchIt provides finalists the opportunity to present their business in front of a panel of judges and an audience of investors with the goal of receiving new venture capital funding for business growth; since 2015, PitchIt has helped support the success of the many finalists detailed in the Lend Academy article. Source
Both Lending Club and Prosper have announced several programs to help borrowers affected by Hurricane Harvey; Lend Academy shares an email to Lending Club investors which states approximately 30,000 live in the affected areas; Lending Club has made changes around collections calls, late fees, credit bureau reporting and hardship plans; Prosper has taken similar actions by waiving late and NSF fees as well as adjusting payment schedules. Source