Zopa About to Take on New Investors

[jamesbrown]

I invested in a Brazilian telecoms co that paid out great dividends for about 6 years and then the share price crashed and they're now worth almost nothing.

I'm not saying these crowd sourcing loans will get whacked I'm sure they won't but you need longer than a few years to really find out whether you have a sound investment that pays over the odds.

Good advice. I think we've all been clobbered in a similar way at some point. Except scootie, who is still in line for a good clobbering. Nice dividend payments, right up until there's a recession and suddenly the company is worthless. I still have a few shares like that. Hope vastly exceeds expectation.

Still, I'll probably dip a toe into this Zopa round. Nothing that I cannot afford to lose, worst case scenario. Medium risk in a recession, I'd say. And a recession is always around the corner.

[Hobosapien]

The crypto thread is long so were any specific products touted there or is it general boasting about everyone being millionaires?

Yep, cryptodogs are hot on the heels of the cryptokitties.

[d000hg]

But this isn't shares, it's real money in real loans. If people all stop paying back their loans it will go kaput. Otherwise presumably not... plus you can totally just use it a few years. You can set your repayments to come back as cash rather than re-invest if you want to fully evaluate how it works without a long-term position.

[BlasterBates]

I invested in a Brazilian telecoms co that paid out great dividends for about 6 years and then the share price crashed and they're now worth almost nothing.

I'm not saying these crowd sourcing loans will get whacked I'm sure they won't but you need longer than a few years to really find out whether you have a sound investment that pays over the odds.

[d000hg]

People say it's risky but is it? The old-school products (now retiring) were backed by a pot of cash in case of defaults and they proudly claimed this had never failed. Similarly, the projected ROI takes into account the statistical data they have on defaults - you might be loaning out at 8% but they predict 6% return. By splitting into a lot of separate loans, the 'real risk' seems pretty low to me even though of course it theoretically could go titsup.

The crypto thread is long so were any specific products touted there or is it general boasting about everyone being millionaires?

[MarillionFan]

I have a bit of money in Zopa and it's being transferred over into their ISA at the moment, WSS it is a bit riskier and the rates aren't as good as they used to be but it you've a bit to spare why not? As per the usual advice you should try and spread out your investments. I also have a S&S ISA with HL and at the moment it's 5% on the money I've put it but the shares I have are long term investments that will hopefully pay off well once the companies mature.

I like Zopa, got 130k in there at the moment, not all of it in ISA. I love the fact I get a 0.5% bonus every month on top of that interest rate for being an early adopter & that every day I login, it's more than the day before.

[The Spartan]

I have a bit of money in Zopa and it's being transferred over into their ISA at the moment, WSS it is a bit riskier and the rates aren't as good as they used to be but it you've a bit to spare why not? As per the usual advice you should try and spread out your investments. I also have a S&S ISA with HL and at the moment it's 5% down on the money I've put it but the shares I have are long term investments that will hopefully pay off well once the companies mature.

[Smartie]

Heads up for those looking for a Zopa ISA - Got an email to say they will shortly be accepting new investors. Not the same returns as the Crypto thread mind you, but very good the going rate at the bank.

Better than cash but also more risky - I'm not sure it's worth it for around 4% return. You'd be better off in the long term (and I'm assuming that's why you want an ISA) putting it in a stocks ISA, though obviously with the current market levels that's more risky than usual.

Most peer to peer lenders have not really been tested in a proper crash though Zopa was around a little while before the last big one when they were much smaller. Will be interesting to see how they fare after the next big stock market 'correction'.

[mattfx]

Heads up for those looking for a Zopa ISA - Got an email to say they will shortly be accepting new investors. Not the same returns as the Crypto thread mind you, but very good the going rate at the bank.