Disintermediation

Author

Date

22nd November 2016

There has been much speculation about the potential impact of the IFA and wealth manager communities eventually throwing their weight behind the P2P sector. Why they haven’t done so up until now hinges on the argument that without FCA approval they have not felt able or willing to recommend P2P products to their clients. The FCA’s lengthy deliberations regarding which P2P platforms are granted full authorisation – a process that is still ongoing for most of the major platforms, including ArchOver – have obviously not helped the cause.

Crucially, authorised status will dictate which platforms will be able to offer an Innovative Finance ISA product. It is widely anticipated that, for those who pass the FCA test, this could act as the trigger that will prompt IFAs/wealth managers to give their active endorsement to P2P through IF ISAs. The hope is that, once the regulatory shackles come off, the floodgates will open as lenders/investors pile in to take advantage of tax free returns on P2P loans (obviously within annual ISA limits), which we know would generate far more attractive returns than those based on bank or building society deposits.

It all sounds great. My only question is: why do we need the wealth managers and IFAs now? Surely disintermediation lies at the very heart of the whole P2P lending project – a process by which the investor receives a greater share of the return because the middle man has been removed from the equation.

This can be easily demonstrated in the world of investment management where investors are forced to give up part of their gain in the form of fees. An investment of, say, £100,000 may produce an annual return of 7%, or £7,000. A return reduced to 6%, of £6,000, by fees would mean a reduction of £1,000 in one year alone. Over a period of five years, arithmetic shows that the cumulative loss would be £17,797, assuming annual returns are reinvested. Removing the middle man may involve slightly more effort on the part of the investor – virtually none if you are being charged fees to invest in a tracker fund – but the savings can be considerable. And it makes still less sense to be charged fees in the years when investments fall in value.

And the same applies to the world of debt finance where the banks are a classic case to point. For decades, they have enjoyed low cost of capital which, when combined with the low returns offered to depositors, explains how they can afford to maintain a presence in the High Street.

The internet has been one of the driving forces behind disintermediation – it allows the dissemination of information to large numbers of people at low cost. And the process has only just begun.

To ‘re-intermediate’ by inserting a layer of fee-charging organisations between the client and the product provider – IFAs, wealth managers and P2P aggregators, to name a few – represents an unnecessary step backwards. Those who take the risk should keep the gain

Skin in the Game

Author

Angus Dent

Date

17th November 2016

The term ‘skin the game’ is a fairly recent addition to the P2P business lending sector’s collection of ‘cool’ phrases. An import from the equity finance side of the fence, it is meant to comfort lenders/investors with the thought that, if they lose their money, others – particularly the borrowers, but also other lenders – will lose theirs, too. But apart from sounding modern and slick, does it send a message that typical lenders necessarily want to hear? And does it have any real value anyway?

‘Skin in the game’ has crept into the picture because a few P2P lenders have taken the step of putting money from their own balance sheets into selected projects. The motive for taking this kind of risk appears to be to help certain borrowers raise the cash they need because (a) some loans do not meet the usual lending criteria and (b) in the platform’s estimation, the borrower company nevertheless deserves support. Their action bears all the hallmarks of bank lending, which is why some commentators are beginning to ask whether this is the first step towards achieving that ultimate ambition. It suggests that everyone in the P2P sector secretly wants to trade their original disrupter ticket in order to become a bank.

We can’t possibly comment on the corporate plans of our competitors, but ArchOver’s position on this is quite clear: we are not a bank and neither do we have any ambitions in that direction. We are not a venture capital company, either. We provide a matching service between borrowers and lenders, using a unique business model designed to protect the interests of all parties, but especially lenders.

Furthermore, it is our contention that having the right business model – in our case we use credit insurance to protect assets valued at 125% of the loan – offers far better lender protection than having a borrower prepared to risk their own money to the tune of, say, 5% of the total as a gesture towards the ‘skin in the game’ culture.

On the issue of fairness, surely it is far better to treat all lenders the same, irrespective of whether they are individuals, family office or small institutions; there should be no special deals for anyone. And we would also argue that it is better to conduct rigorous due diligence in the first place, and to stick to the criteria rather than try to justify special cases. We do not subscribe to the notion that borrowers and lenders want to see platforms putting their own solvency at risk through approving poor loans. That’s something the banks do!

Telegraph Hub: How does peer-to-peer business lending work?

Author

Angus Dent

Date

4th November 201628th July 2020

ArchOver has teamed up with The Telegraph to produce a series of articles to help educate investors on the UK Peer-to-Peer Lending sector. In a brave new economic and financial world, understanding different ways of managing your money is key to success. P2P Lending can help both individuals and businesses navigate a post-Brexit world, with the reassurance that it is a secured and effective method of protecting and growing your money.

Despite being a relatively new phenomenon, peer-to-peer lending (P2P) is already transforming the way in which businesses grow and income-seekers invest.

The concept of using the internet to bypass banks and lend money directly to businesses and individuals has only been around since 2005. However, a recent report from Cambridge University showed that more than 12 per cent of new lending to small and medium businesses came from the peer-to-peer sector, with 20,000 small and medium-sized businesses raising money this way in 2015.

In fact, peer-to-peer lending to businesses is the largest part of the UK’s burgeoning alternative finance market, with a 194 percent average growth rate between 2013 and 2015.

According to Angus Dent, CEO of P2P lending company ArchOver, this growth has occurred because P2P brings together two different needs – the need for businesses to get finance and the need for ordinary people to find income.

What rates can you earn via P2P lending?

The rate you get will depend on the length of time you lend to the business, the amount you lend and the security behind the loan.

According to rates on comparison site Moneysupermarket, these rates include:

• 4.25 per cent for an easy-access scheme lending to businesses

• 3.5 per cent lending to individuals with easy access to loans

• 2.25 per cent lending to property developers for a year

• 7 per cent lending to small and medium-sized businesses over the long term

Obviously, these are far higher rates than you would get in the bank, but it’s worth remembering your money is at risk of not being repaid and your investment is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

How can you invest?

P2P business lending can be carried out through several different kinds of accounts, to maximise returns:

• Directly with the P2P provider, with the first £1,000 of your returns being tax-free (£500 for higher rate taxpayers) in the same way as cash

• Through a self-invested personal pension (SIPP)

• Through an Isa, known as the Innovative Finance Isa for P2P providers who have passed FCA checks

How does it work?

For investors, getting cash returns from P2P is a simple process with a number of steps.

You research P2P and decide how much to invest

Peer-to-peer lending is suitable as part of a diversified portfolio for those who understand that they may not get all of their money paid back.

You decide on a PTP lender to work with

Some things to check include: how much you will have to lend, when you will get your money back and how much you understand about who you’re lending to. Some companies choose to spread your money between many businesses while others allow you to lend to only one business. Some P2P sites charge fees and others do not.

If, as is the case with ArchOver, you lend on a loan-by-loan or business-by-business basis check you are happy with its business model, which is available on their platform, and do your research.

Check your security

Different P2P lenders have different approaches to ensuring your money is paid back. Some have a contingency fund and some allow you to choose to lend to businesses or individuals who have been risk assessed. ArchOver’s ‘secured and insured’ model ensures the Accounts Receivable of a business and takes a charge over this, which is registered at Companies House, to give you extra security. They also require the business to take out insurance on the accounts receivable.

Make an application

You’ll need to pass credit checks and give statutory information before you lend through a P2P platform.

Lend the money

Lending your cash on a platform for between three months and five years. You will receive interest at regular intervals and your money back at the agreed time provided the borrower does not default. You’ll need to tell the taxman about interest received unless your P2P investment is in an Isa or SIPP.

Telegraph Hub: How P2P is Bridging the Business-Loan Gap

Author

Angus Dent

Date

4th October 2016

As interest rates dive, new ways of raising returns on cash are sparking interest.

With the Bank Rate at a record low of 0.25 per cent and those with cash looking for reasonable returns, the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending sector is receiving a boost.

P2P lending sites offer businesses the chance to borrow money from individuals in order to expand, bypassing difficult-to-obtain high-street bank loans and replacing inflexible and sometimes pernicious invoice discounting facilities.

Some lenders receive returns in excess of 7 per cent on P2P lending sites, but risk losing their cash if the business goes under. This is the issue that Angus Dent, chief executive of P2P platform ArchOver, believes he has addressed with a unique form of security for lenders.

Mr Dent, a chartered accountant and technology business expert, founded ArchOver after realising there was a gap in the market for medium-sized loans for growing businesses.

“If you needed a £50,000 overdraft you could probably get it from your bank and, if you needed more than £3m, you could approach a venture capitalist,” he says. “But there wasn’t any reasonable way you could raise, say, £500,000 or so for your business.

“We also saw there were an awful lot of people who had money on deposit that wasn’t doing very much. ArchOver aims to put those people together in a way that is rewarding for everyone. The name refers to our platform, which arches over from the people with cash to those who want to borrow.”

Loans made through the ArchOver platform are “secured and insured”, which Mr Dent says provides “unparalleled investor protection”. The security policy involves insuring each borrower’s accounts receivables – the money owed by their customers for goods and services that have already been delivered – against the loan.

The main reason why company borrowers don’t repay loans is because their customers don’t pay them. Credit insurance successfully mitigates this risk. Given that most of the borrowers take credit insurance from Coface – an A- credit-rated supplier with a very good record of meeting claims, which represents a significant safeguard for lenders.

Different types of lending provide different types of security, and different types of security offer different levels of liquidity. By securing loans on Accounts Receivable he believes the security is relatively easy to value and liquidate, meaning that the likelihood of getting your money back in the event of a disaster is high. This compares well with property, which is often held up to provide great security, but which is difficult to value and often illiquid. That said, lending should only form part of a diversified portfolio of investments. “We believe people are grown-ups and should do their homework on their investments,” he adds.

The minimum that an ArchOver user can lend to any one borrower is £1,000, an amount that he believes means people will carry out the correct amount of research. “Most people will take an investment of £1,000 seriously,” he says, suggesting ArchOver is suitable for those with a portfolio of different investments, including those people who are managing their retirement income. “Our oldest lender is 89,” he confides.

Lenders are encouraged to find out more about the company that they will be lending to, including the reason for borrowing the cash.

Some of the businesses that have borrowed from ArchOver have included timber frame restoration specialist TRC, healthcare service provider Spirit Healthcare and accountancy business Spain Brothers. In each case, the company found ArchOver offered a better service, a combination of lower price, much lighter touch processing and no personal guarantees than they could get from a bank or invoice discounter.

So far ArchOver has facilitated £22m of loans with no defaults or losses, and Mr Dent believes the uncertainties created by the Brexit vote could further increase demand for the product. “While some businesses will decide not to expand, others will need to find growth finance and, with interest rates at 0.25 per cent, there is more demand than ever from those with cash who are looking for new ways to make their money work for them.”