LendingRobot, the robo-advisor geared towards marketplace lending assets, has filed a Form D 506c with the SEC indicating its intent to create a pooled investment fund. According to the filing, the minimum investment accepted will be $100,000.00 with no targeted max size of the fund.
LendingRobot has historically targeted the retail investor sector but is slowly moving upstream. In late 2015, LendingRobot added Funding Circle to its portfolio of investment options. Unlike Lending Club and Prosper loans, investors in Funding Circle loans must be considered accredited under current guidelines.
LendingRobot currently has no minimum set with accounts holding under $5000 being managed for free. Above that amount LendingRobot charges an annual fee equal of 0.45%. They have posted some interesting data points to help potential investors determine whether or not their services would be of interest. Based on a hypothetical diversified portfolio on their platform of $100,000 investment, a comparison between using their service or doing it on your own delivers a 9.21% net annual return versus 7.17% without their help. Of course you could park your money in a bank and receive a nominal return of maybe 0.85%. That’s no good. While historical returns are no guarantee of future results you get the picture.
LendingRobot seeks to provide similar tools that institutional money managers use to invest in P2P loans for retail investors. The platform has over $100 million in assets under management today. Having a pooled investment fund targeting higher net worth investors should help them take their platform to the next level.