The gap between alternative finance and the mainstream gets ever closer. Whether the fresh thinking from the alternative sector will inform mainstream thinking or whether the alternative will simply become subsumed within conventional ways of doing business remains to be seen.
Michael Spencer, the billionaire Icap founder, is to plough at least £25m in funding, supporting a new fintech fund looking to raise £100m.
Spencer is making the investment via his investment vehicle IPGL in a fintech investment business called Element Ventures.
Element Ventures is aiming to raise up to £100m.
The fintech venture is focusing on emerging companies that are developing technologies combating challenges which are faced by the banking and financial services industries, according to the Financial Times.
Element Ventures three partners are Spencer Lake, HSBC’s former Vice Chairman of Global Banking and Markets and two executives, Steve Gibson and Michael McFadgen, who previously ran the venture capital division of Nex, Spencer’s technology group which he sold to CME, the world’s biggest futures exchange.
The investment marks one of the biggest by Spencer, a former Tory Party treasurer who is thought to have a personal fortune of around £1bn since founding ICAP in 1986, since he sold Nex in 2018.
Yes You Can, rated B, for £30,000 with an 11 per cent fixed yield, is currently 21 per cent subscribed. More loan offerings will land on site soon.
Historical Performance And IFISA Process Guide
That figure is the result of over £19 million of loans facilitated on the site, as we bring individuals looking for a good return on capital together with carefully vetted small companies seeking funds for growth. Bear in mind that lenders’ capital is at risk. Read warnings on site before committing capital.
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 2019/20 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.