We continue our regular News updates on the UK government’s stimulus schemes, launched to combat Covid-19. Legal site JD Supra takes a look at the success, or otherwise, of the initiatives. We run an excerpt, with the full story available here.
Each Scheme targets businesses of different sizes and, as such, provides differing levels of UK government-backed support. The Treasury launched:
Nearly three months on, the Schemes have received over one million applications and supported hundreds of thousands of business across the UK.
As of June 14, CBILS had supported a total of 49,247 facilities out of a total of 96,492 applications, equaling an application success rate of 51%. The value of the accepted applications amounts to £10.11bn, averaging just over £205,290 per debt facility.
In contrast, the CLBILS aimed at large corporations has backed facilities in the value of £1.77bn for a total of 279 successful applicants. This totals just over £6.3m per applicant on average. The success rate for CLBILS has so far been lower than that for CBILS: only around 42% of applicants have been approved.
BBLS boasts by far the greatest number of successful applicants: 863,584 small businesses have been able to secure funding through the Scheme. This high number also translates into a high success rate: Just short of 82% of applicants have had their applications approved. Dispensing a total of £26.34bn, businesses have on average obtained £30,500 in finance.
Funding obtained under the Future Fund Scheme has so far totaled £146m. The money has gone to 155 successful companies out of a total of 577 applicants, who have received an average of approximately 940,000. This amounts to a success rate of just under 27%.
Historical Performance And IFISA Process Guide
That figure is the result of over £21 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.