Do you want to commit capital to the small companies who find funding from the alternative finance sector – or would you prefer to invest in the alternative finance sector itself?
Regular visitors to this site will be aware that Money&Co. lenders have achieved an average return of over 8 per cent (before we deduct our one per cent charge) across nearly £15 million of peer-to-peer (P2P) loans facilitated since 2014.
If you want to invest in the companies in the alternative finance sector themselves(eg the P2P platforms), there’s an investment vehicle that can do this for you. News website UK Investing runs a laudatory comment piece on Augmentum Fintech, an investment trust operating in the sector.
It is the brainchild of “Augmentum Disruptum In 2010, ‘a well-networked, experienced team of entrepreneurs and investors who have been both sides of the fence’ which founded Augmentum Capital, with the backing of veteran financier Lord Rothschild’s RIT Capital.
Their aim was to seek out and invest in exceptional private Fintech businesses, disrupting the banking, insurance, asset management and wider financial services sectors. Last year, the group launched an investment trust, Augmentum Fintech (LSE: AUGM), raising a total of £94m at 100p a share.
At the time of writing the mid-price of the share is 102.40p.
A Process Guide To Innovative Finance ISA Investment
All loans on site are eligible to be held in a Money&Co. Innovative Finance Individual Savings Account (IFISA), up to the annual ISA limit of £20,000. Such loans offer lenders tax-free income. Our offering is an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) that can hold the peer-to-peer (P2P) business loans that Money&Co. facilitates. For the purposes of this article, the terms ISA and IFISA are interchangeable.
So here’s our guide to the process:
The ISA allowance for 2018/19 is unchanged from last tax year at £20,000, allowing a married couple to put £40,000 into a tax-free environment. Over three years, an investment of this scale in two Money&Co. Innovative Finance ISAs would generate £8,400 of income completely free of tax. We’re assuming a 7 per cent return, net of charges and free of tax here.
Once you have made your initial commitment, you might then consider diversifying – buying a spread of loans. To do this, you can go into the “loans for sale” market. All loans bought in this market also qualify for IFISA tax benefits.
Risk: Security, Access, Yield
Do consider not just the return, but the security and the ease of access to your investment. We write regularly about these three key factors. Here’s one of several earlier articles on security, access and yield.