The listed investment vehicle Peer to Peer Global Investments is a £217m investment fund.
The objective is to deliver a dividend income and capital growth through investments, directly and indirectly from loans that are originated through online peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms
[http://www.shareshop.hsbc.co.uk/shareshop/security.cgi?csi=31528630]
By getting access to loans that have come from the Funding Circle, RateSetter, Zopa and Crossflow Payments the potential yield could be as high as 8%.
As peer to peer lending becomes more mainstream, the idea of being able to create loans and help more enterprises get access to credit is a very appealing proposition. As small firms prefer debt finance, the ability to by-pass the banks can only be a good thing. As more and more platforms try and compete to give funding for small businesses, greater access to capital is helping re-balance the economy.
It is easy to blame the banks for not willing to lend, but one has to remember that many peer to peer lenders have just noticed and opportunity to make money from banks by under cutting them as the banks are under pressure from regulators to hold more capital and reduce their balance sheets, retreat from some areas of lending. Peer to Peer lending is filling in that critical gap