LendInvest, a UK based peer to peer lender that targets the mortgage sector, has announced they have surpassed £100 million in loans via their platform. The P2P lender was launched in May of 2013 and according to the site this paces LendInvest as the fourth largest P2P lender in the UK following Zopa, Ratesetter and Funding Circle. LendInvest allows investors, from individuals through to institutions, to invest in short-term Buy-To-Let bridging loans.
LendInvest co-founder, Christian Faes, commented:
“The ‘Big 3′ of the UK peer-to-peer lending market, is clearly now the ‘Big 4′, which must firmly include LendInvest. We are one of the fastest growing peer-to-peer platforms in the world, leveraging off a 6 year track record of actively lending in the short-term Buy-To-Let mortgage market in the UK.”
LendInvest states it has seen a huge inflow of investment over the last 6 months, as investors are seeking the superior returns offered by the platform. According to LendInvest loans on their platform average 8.5% per annum. All loans are secured against UK property. LendInvest is seeing up to £2 million of new money placed on the platform each week, and this money is invested in short-term mortgage loans that have an average duration of around 6 months.
LendInvest is associated with real estate fund manager, Montello Funds Management. Montello invests in a large portion of the loans originated by LendInvest, along with over 2,500 other active registered LendInvest investors.
LendInvest has recently hired an experienced data scientist who will head up a team that will enhance its credit underwriting models, and transparency on the platform. This will include making detailed track-record data publicly available in the near future.
Christian Faes added;
“We are in a unique position with our funds management business, Montello. This provides us with strong institutional investor relationships, and a relatively substantial balance sheet from those funds, that can be deployed on the LendInvest platform.”
“We are definitely exploiting this advantage as we move to the top of the marketplace lending league tables.“
According to the Peer to Peer Finance Assocation, P2P loans are expected to grow beyond the £1 billion mark for all of 2014 as the industry continues to experience dramatic growth.