Crowdfund Insider talks with Ron Suber about Prosper and marketplace lending in 2016; in 2016 the firm reported decreased investment and transaction fee revenue which led to a number of new initiatives and changes; in his comments Ron Suber cited the importance of being adaptable to change; he also talked about the investment opportunity from institutional investors and the importance of securitization and a secondary market; for 2017 he expects rapid changes for the industry to continue and hopes that as the industry evolves it will result in more opportunities for borrowers, online lending platforms and the ecosystem. Source
Kroll Bond Rating Agency has assigned ratings for Avant's most recent securitization deal; the portfolio includes three tranches of consumer notes valued at $192.6 million; ratings for each of the three tranches are included in the chart above and range from A- to BB. Source
MoneyThing has announced its authorization from the UK Financial Conduct Authority; says it will no longer be pre-funding loans and revising its terms for new lenders; plans to seek HMRC approval for innovative finance individual savings accounts. Source
Peter Renton from Lend Academy provides his quarterly report on marketplace lending investments; the portfolio return continued to trend lower in the fourth quarter of 2016 however the overall decrease was lower than previous quarters; trailing twelve month returns in Q4 2016 was 8.07% compared to 8.21% in Q3 2016; defaults were a significant factor during the quarter, reaching a new high; an analysis of performance across the following companies is included: Lending Club, Prosper, Direct Lending Income Fund, Lend Academy P2P Fund, P2Binvestor and PeerStreet. Source
Assetz Capital is a large P2P lender in the UK and now has authorization from the FCA; the company has lent more than GBP316 million ($410 million) to businesses and is now working on the final stages of its Innovative Finance ISA which it expects will be available in Q4 2017; Stuart Law, CEO of Assetz Capital, stated: "Our cautious approach of employing a world-class credit underwriting team and taking realisable security on loans is essential for our investors' peace of mind. Our focus remains to ensure the growth and security of our lenders' investments, as well as the success of our borrowers' businesses. Our team has done fantastically well to deliver such success to all of our stakeholders over the last few years and yet there is also so much more to achieve ahead of this milestone and we are all excited about the continuing journey." Source
Prosper's originations were $775 million in the second quarter of 2017, up from $586 million in the first quarter; adjusted EBITDA was $6.7 million in the second quarter and the company was cash flow positive; Prosper had their first profitable quarter in Q3 of 2014 before growing significantly and subsequently falling back into the red; whole loan sales represented 94% of total volume in Q2; Prosper has originated a total of $9.7 billion in loans; Prosper also announced closing a $500 million securitization; PMIT 2017-2 was rated by Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc. and Fitch Ratings with the Class A pool receiving an A rating. Source
UK mortgage loan marketplace platform, LendInvest, has released its 2016 earnings; originations on the platform increased 84% to £320 million for the year ending March 2016; company grew revenue 133% to £32 million with a profit of £3.4 million; leads most of its competitors who have been consistently reporting losses. Source
British Business Bank (BBB) is a government-owned entity designed to support small businesses in the UK through a fund with 1 billion British pounds ($1.27 billion); it currently has 85 million British pounds ($108 million) invested in the P2P lending industry; the Financial Conduct Authority's release of an update on the crowdfunding market last week noting a number of factors for further investigation has caused taxpayers to question the large allocation to the P2P lending sector; specifically John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, has said, "This is extremely concerning and taxpayers will want to know how this can be good use of their money."; according to a Freedom of Information request reported on by Business Insider, the allocations from BBB include 60 million British pounds ($76 million) invested with Funding Circle, 15 million British pounds ($19 million) invested with MarketInvoice and 10 million British pounds ($13 million) invested with RateSetter. Source
Panel explores a diverse set of small business lenders based in Canada; topics covered include the differences of regulation, underwriting, and views on traditional banks between Canada and the rest of the world; Canada has five large banks which control a majority of the market which makes it hard to build a brand as an alternative lender; panelists answer how they can overcome this challenge and scale their business; they also share their thoughts on the current market opportunity and what the future holds for fintech companies in Canada. Source
In a LinkedIn post, Sukhwinder Shoker provides insight into MarketInvoice's loan book which the company shares publicly; analysis includes data on originations and advance rates, invoice terms, risk-price grade, gross discount rates, diversification and net returns; according to Shoker's analysis, the average monthly net return achieved since January 2012 by investors before fees and tax is 50 basis points. Source