Assetz Capital Review – My Lending Experiences & Actual Investment Returns Published Monthly Assetz Capital Review + ISA
Assetz Capital is a medium to large size Peer to Peer lender. Offering returns, from 3.75% for instant access, auto-investment portfolios. To over 15% for manually selected investments.
Providing loans to property developers and small businesses throughout the UK. With asset security on loans as a big plus (most loans are secured by property).
Read on to learn about my personal lending experiences with Assetz Capital. Monthly lending data, my investment strategy, and long term view of the platform are all outlined below. Read on for the full Assetz Capital Review.
My Experience So Far
I had invested with Assetz Capital for several years before the pandemic and was very happy with my investments there. When the pandemic hit, Assetz had some liquidity issues with their Access Accounts which caused concern. After coming through the Covid19 crises, Assetz Capital are finally getting back to normal.
The Assetz Capital Quick Access Accounts were slow to release capital during the pandemic, as investors started to pull out their capital very fast in a panic, causing problems with liquidity.
Assetz implemented a discount strategy for the Access Accounts, which allowed investors to return their cash by giving other investors the opportunity to buy loans at (sometimes) substantial discounts. Everything seems to be almost back to normal now with capital slowly able to be withdrawn from the Access accounts without discount, (although still not 100% liquid for very large amounts).
My Assetz Capital Strategy. Assetz Capital Review
I’ve decided now to start increasing my investment with Assetz Capital again. They proved that not only can they come through a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, but they were able to adapt their business to challenging situations and protect their investors capital. I admit I did have some concerns when the pandemic first hit, but Assetz proved their worth in the end.
I’m happy & comfortable to be increasing my investment with them again. The previous liquidity issues don’t bother me so much now as I believe Assetz Capital have demonstrated they are still a strong company. So next time the economy turns down, they should be ready for it.
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Bank Transfer.
Typically Available in 2 - 24 hours.
Early Exit:
Yes, no cost under normal market conditions.
QAA account instant assess.
Other auto-invest accounts 30 days and 90 days notice.
Manual Lending - sell on secondary market.
Assetz Capital were launched in 2013 in the UK as the first secured Peer to Peer business lender. In the time they have been in business, they have become one of the best known and trusted P2P Lenders in the UK.
Current figures suggest they have lent over £1 billion from almost 50,000 investors in the time they have been in business.
Expected default rates are 5.5% and actual Assetz Capital default rates are 1.4% (even after the pandemic). Extremely low rates for Peer to Peer companies lending to small businesses. Obviously low because of the asset security most loans come with. Add that with the Provision Fund and investors money is fairly well protected.
Assetz are regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with full permissions under FCA number 724996. They gained FCA permissions in September, 2017.
It’s important to note that the FCA is not the same as the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme). So capital is not protected as it would be in a bank.
Assetz Capital Review
Signup Process – How to Open an Assetz Capital Investment Account – Assetz Capital Review
Opening an account with Assetz Capital is fairly easy. Just the usual ID checks.
If they can verify you though one of the UK’s credit agencies, you will be approved immediately. If not, you may need to send them a copy of your passport or driving license. And perhaps a utility bill or bank statement.
Residents of most countries can sign up, including USA residents (Assetz Capital ISA only UK). However you’ll need a UK bank account. See my Wise Borderless Account review for more information on how it may be possible to get UK banking details even if you’re not a UK resident.
Deposits & Withdrawals – Assetz Capital Review
Deposits and Withdrawals are made by bank transfer from a UK bank. No debit or credit card deposits are available.
Deposits usually show up in your account the same or the next working day. Withdrawals typically take 2 – 3- business days.
It is possible to make deposits directly in to the individual Assetz Capital lending account by using a special reference number supplied by them when you sign up.
Time to Become Invested – Assetz Capital Review
It can take a few days to get capital distributed when in any of the auto-invest accounts (except the QAA which lends out the funds fairly quickly).
I’ve found investment time varies based on the amount of capital I am investing, as well as the loan book at the time.
On the MLA (Manual Lending Account) it entirely depends on how long it takes to research the loans, and how much diversification you want.
As you can see by the screenshot below, it’s easy to see how much money in each account is waiting for investment.
Who are we lending to through Assetz Capital?
Assetz Capital is a true Peer to Peer Lender where lenders are lending directly to borrowers who are typically small to medium size British businesses. Loan agreements are between the lender and the borrower.
Assetz Capital Review
Loan Security – How Safe is Assetz Capital?
All loans are secured by property, business assets or personal guarantees from company directors.
Assetz Capital’s website always gives good information on asset security. It lists all items on the loan page, and if you hover over the item, it gives further detail.
Default Rates – Is Assetz Capital Safe? Asset Capital Review
Assetz Capital has an expected lifetime default rate of 5.5% with an actual rate of below 1.4%.
Non recoverable bad debt rate is what is really impressive though, at the actual rate of 0.6% & 0.00% for the last 2 years, meaning that so far they have been able to recover almost all of the lent capital. You can see current statistics here.
Amortization – Assetz Capital Review
Most loans amortize, meaning you receive capital and interest payments every month.
When loans amortize, it reduces loan risk compared to a non-amortizing loan, in which nothing is received until the end of the loan period, or only interest is received monthly and then the capital repaid at the end of the loan period.
Amortization is the paying off of debt with a fixed repayment schedule in regular installments over time. It is an accounting technique used to lower the cost value of a finite life or intangible asset incrementally through scheduled charges to income.
It’s easy to see if loans amortize and when loan payments have been made (when both interest and principle are paid). And when payments are due by drilling down in any loan listing.
Selling Loans and Withdrawing Capital – Assetz Capital Review
Assetz Capital don’t charge an exit fee for selling loans under normal market conditions. However with the COVID situation, liquidity in the Quick Access Account dried up. So Assetz had to implement a discounting structure to enable investors who needed to exit loans to be able to offer discounts in order to exit loans immediately. Already though things are almost back to normal so discounting is no longer necessary for smaller amounts of capital.
With the QAA under “normal market conditions”, capital can be withdrawn from loans almost immediately, providing there is enough other lenders capital in the account to cover your loans (typically not a problem).
In the other auto-invest accounts, you will need to give either 30 or 90 days notice to withdraw funds depending on which account.
The MLA is hard to gauge. Exit time can vary as loans can only be sold to other investors. Meaning if and when another investor chooses to purchase the loans.
Diversification – How Does Assetz Capital Diversify My Investment?
The platform takes care of diversifying loans in the auto-invest account. It is mostly good, however I have seen instances where it is possible to get a big chunk of capital in to a single loan.
In theory large loan chunks shouldn’t matter because of the Assetz Capital Provision Fund, however the fund is discretionary (meaning they don’t have to use it), and if it runs out, there could be a big chunk of capital go bad (default). This also applies to the Assetz Capital ISA account.
This doesn’t worry me too much because the loans are asset secured with good LTV’s. So, even if the loans were to go bad, I would more than likely be able to retrieve my capital.
If you get auto-invested into a loan with too much capital, you can always sell the loan on and diversify manually if you’re not comfortable with it.
Provision Fund – How Safe Is My Money – Assetz Capital Review?
Assetz Capital’s provision fund covers their auto-invest accounts including capital invested in the Assetz Capital ISA. It aims to cover up to 5% of interest and capital repayments from bad debt.
Under normal market conditions, this should cover any bad debt just fine, allowing the account to provide the indicated return rates.
The provision fund is discretionary with Assetz Capital though, meaning they don’t “have” to use it if they don’t think it is necessary. Although in my experience it hasn’t been a problem. The fund has always paid when needed. See their T’s & C’s For more information on Assetz Capital’s provision Fund.
Tax Free IFISA Account – Assetz Capital Review – ISA
Investment Accounts – What Types of Investment Accounts Does Assetz Capital Offer?
Assetz Capital now has 4 different investment accounts. There used to be 6 accounts, however the GBBA (Great British Business Account) and the PSA (Property Secured Account) stopped accepting investment on the 13th of November 2019. This move actually made a lot of sense from a business perspective. The PSA was paying a rate of 5.50% and could take up to 5 years to exit. Also all Assetz Capital Loans now have asset security, so the PSA account no longer made sense.
The GBBA2 account again had lower liquidity, and lending rates were falling across the whole credit industry, so the 6.25% may not have been sustainable long term. Thus it made sense for Assetz to encourage investment into their accounts with better liquidity moving forward, even though the rates are a little less. The higher rates are still available in the MLA (Manual Lending Account) if that’s what you’re looking for, and Assetz have said they have no intention of changing that in the foreseeable future.
At the top of the accounts page on their website is displayed your average combined interest rates between all investment accounts.
The QAA is a really great option. It offers instant access to funds (under normal market conditions) contained within, similar to an easy-access bank account under normal market conditions. I have to say out of all the P2P lenders, the QAA sets Assetz Capital above the other options out there because it pays a reasonable return with instant access to your capital.
The other great thing about the QAA, when waiting to invest in the auto-lend accounts, money can be placed here to earn a fair return. This greatly minimizes cash drag on the other accounts.
Loan repayments from other accounts can also be swept here for the same reason.
Offers a little less percentage yield than the 90 Day Access Account. However under normal market conditions, Assetz Capital say you can make withdrawals with 30 days notice.
Offers a little more percentage yield than the 30 day account. Under normal market conditions, Assetz Capital say you can make withdrawals with 90 days notice.
With the MLA there are currently rates up to 15.00% available, however it takes time to invest and you need a little more experience with lending to know how creditworthy a company might be, and how good the asset security is.
So if you’re not really interested in learning the ins and out of business credit, perhaps the auto-invest account are best (I personally use auto-invest accounts).
There is no provision fund on the MLA, so we are subject to direct defaults on this account. However if you choose loans with a good Loan to Value (LTV), you should be able to recoup most of your money eventually in the event of a default.
Website – Assetz Capital Review
The loan listing page shows good initial detail on the loan and also LTV’s for each loan.
If you drill down a bit further, you get even more details on each of the loans individually.
Should you choose to use the Manual Lending Account, please remember the “Prime Directive” and be sure to diversify accordingly as there is no provision fund.
Personally I don’t like having more than 1% of my portfolio to any single loan, but providing the loan has a good LTV, I would go a little more with Assetz Capital as they have good asset security, and an excellent record of recovery with very low loss rates.
Summary – Assetz Capital Review
Assetz Capital is one of my favorite peer to peer lenders for good reason. Their website is easy to use & rates are decent for secured property loans. I only invest in their auto-invest portfolios which require zero management time after investment. The Assetz Capital ISA is another benefit for UK based investors if you’re looking for potential tax free returns.
Thumbs Up Points for Assetz Capital
Safety – medium size company with a good track record and makes preservation of your capital one of their top objectives.
Auto-Invest – in all but one portfolio means virtually no time managing investments. Just send your money over and decide which portfolio you would like to invest in. Repayments can be reinvested automatically for hands off investing.
All Loans Asset Secured – better chance of capital return in event of default.
Great Rates – for a property secured auto-invest account, Assetz Capital interest rates are among the best in the business.
Website – the Assets Capital website is very comprehensive, but also very easy to use and understand once you get the hang of it. It can take a while to learn, it but once you get to know the interface it works well.
No minimum investment – if your portfolio is still small, it’s still easy to invest with Assetz Capital. They have even put me in to loan parts of just 0.01p.
Quick Access Account (QAA) – is great for getting a good interest rate, especially for almost instantly accessible funds under normal market conditions (did have liquidity issues during pandemic).
Provision Fund – in the auto-invest account the fund should pay out on any defaults, although Assetz Capital does say that the fund is “discretionary” so it’s good to keep that in mind.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Regulated.
Assetz Capital ISA – available for UK investors – Assetz Capital ISA
Thumbs Down Points for Assetz Capital
Liquidity – exiting loans early without giving discount was much slower during the pandemic. Getting back to normal now though.
Manual Investment for Higher Returns – to get the higher returns, you need to invest in the MLA which is time consuming.
Provision Fund “Discretionary” – not guaranteed to pay out with every default.
Large Loan Chunks – keep an eye on the loans you get invested in through the auto-lend if you have a sizable account, as they seem to be lacking a bit of diversification when the account gets bigger.
Is Assetz Capital Safe? I consider Assetz Capital to be at the lower to medium end of the risk scale.
Considering Assetz Capital loans are secured, it’s hard not to give them a lower risk rating. They also made it through the pandemic. However they are lending mostly to SME businesses, which are inherently more risky then lending to individuals, and their diversification is not always my favorite. I like Assets Capital a lot however and put a lot of trust in them.
Who Can Invest with Assetz Capital
Residents of most countries, who have a U.K. bank account (see Wise Borderless Account) who can pass the ID checks can invest with Assetz Capital. Contact Assetz Capital for further information.
This page is presented for informational purposes only. I am not a Financial Adviser and therefore not qualified to give financial advice. Please do your own research and make your own investment decisions. Do not make investment decisions based solely on the information presented on this website.
* My opinions, reviews, star ratings and risk ratings are based on my personal investing experience with the company being reviewed. These ratings are personal opinions and are subjective.
** Some of the links on this website are affiliate referral links. When you click on these links, I can sometimes receive a commission, at absolutely no cost to you. This helps me to continue to offer new reviews and monthly portfolio updates here on my website. I don’t receive commissions from all platforms and it has no effect on my ongoing opinions on lenders. Income on my investments and capital preservation are my main motivations.
Platforms reviewed on this website I am currently investing with, or I have invested with in the past. You can see with full transparency on my Portfolio Returns page which assets & platforms I am invested with (or have previously been invested with) at any point in time. I am not paid a fee by any of the companies to write reviews, so the reviews are unbiased and purely based on my own personal experiences.
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(4.4 / 5)
