Assetz Capital Review
Updated May 2019 – Assetz Capital Review
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What is Assetz Capital?
Assetz Capital is a medium to large size Peer to Peer lender. Offering very reasonable returns, from 4.10% for instant access, auto-investment portfolios. To over 15% for manually selected investments.
Providing loans to property developers and small businesses throughout the UK (most of which are secured by property).
I like Assetz Capital, and consider them to be one of the better options for higher returns. With asset security on most loans as a big plus, Assetz Capital are one of my largest lending accounts.
Read on to learn about my personal lending experiences with Assetz Capital, as well as my investment strategy and long term view of the company.
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The Obvious Investor – Easy-Info Table – Assetz Capital Review
Overall Rating*: 
(4.2 / 5)Who can invest: 
Loan Currencies: £ 
Estimated Return: 4.00% - 15.00% depending on account My Actual Return
(Per Lender): 6.06% My Calculated XIRR: 5.66% Risk Rating*: 3/10 - Low-Medium 
Deposit Funds: Bank Transfer.
Typically Available in 2 - 24 hours.Early Exit: Yes, no cost under normal market conditions.
QAA account fastest exit.Min. Investment: £1 Auto-Invest: Yes - 4 accounts Manual Invest: Yes, higher returns but no provision fund. Lending To: Borrowers Loan Types: Various Business Loans.
Mostly Secured.Default Rates: Expected 4.6% actual below 3% Loans Amortize: Yes Loan Security: Yes.
Most loans secured by property and/or
personal guaranteesProvision Fund: Yes.
On 4 auto-invest accounts, not on manual invest.Time to Invest: Usually Quick.
Couple of days depending on loan availabilityTime to Mange: None (auto-invest).
Depends on your research (manual)Lender Fees: No Payments Received: Monthly - Various times throughout the month. Amount Lent: £800m+ Number of Investors: 34,000+ Loan/Dflt Stats: Yes, Click Here Regulated: Yes: FCA Location: Manchester, UK Founded: 2013 Website: www.assetzcapital.co.uk Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0800 470 0430 IFISA/IRA**: Yes - IFISA - Click here for more info. Cashback**: See Current Offers How to Sign Up**: Sign Up Here!
Assetz Capital – Overview
History
Assetz Capital were launched in 2013 in the UK as the first secured Peer to Peer business lender. In the 6 or so years they have been in business, they have become one of the best known and trusted P2P Lenders.
Current figures suggest they have lent almost £800 million from 34,000 investors (as of May 2019) in the time they have been in business.
Assetz have an expected bad debt rate of 0.2% with an actual rate of 0.1%.
Expected default rates are 4.6%. Extremely low rates for Peer to Peer companies lending to small businesses. Obviously low because of the asset security most loans come with.
Regulation
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.
Signup Process – 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. However you’ll need a UK bank account. See my TransferWise 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
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
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 Assetz 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?
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.
Loan Security – Assetz Capital Review
Most (but not all) of Assetz Capital’s loans are secured by property, business assets or personal guarantees from company directors.
In the PSA (Property Secured Account) all loans are secured against property with reasonable LTV’s (Loan to Value ratios).
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
Assetz Capital has an expected lifetime default rate of 4.6% with an actual rate of below 3%.
Non recoverable bad debt rate is what is really impressive though, at an expected 0.1% with an actual rate of 0.0%, meaning that so far they have been able to recover almost all of the lent capital. You can see current statistics here.
Amortization
Most of Assetz Capital’s 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.
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, it can take anywhere from a few days, to a couple of weeks or more to sell loans, all depending on market conditions.
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.
Here you can see the invested capital in the QAA. Withdrawing shouldn’t be a problem here as of the time of this screenshot.
Diversification
Assetz Capital 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.
As you can see from the screenshot of my GBBA holdings below, when I sort my account by loan holding, I have a large amount in a couple of accounts. The LTV’s are good though so I don’t worry at all.
Another thing to watch; if you have funds in a couple of different accounts, say the PSA, QAA and GBBA, you can end up with capital from both accounts in a single loan.
Again, not a major worry with asset security at low LTV’s.
Provision Fund
Assetz Capitals provision fund covers their auto-invest accounts. 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 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.
Retirement Account
The Assetz Capital ISA (Innovative Finance ISA) was launched in December 2017 for UK residents enabling tax free investments for Peer to Peer lenders. Read more about ISA’s here.
Investment Accounts – Assetz Capital Review
Assetz Capital has 6 different investment accounts. At the top of the accounts page on their website is displayed your average combined interest rates between all 6 accounts.
Property Secured Account (PSA)
The PSA as you may have guessed, offers loans secured on property at a current rate of 5.50%
30 Day Access Account
Offers a little less percentage yield at 5.10%. However under normal market conditions, Assetz Capital say you can make withdrawals with 30 days notice.
90 Day Access Account
Offers a little more percentage yield than the 30 day account at 5.75%. Under normal market conditions, Assetz say you can make withdrawals with 90 days notice.
Quick Access Account (QAA)
The QAA is a really great option. It offers instant access to funds 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 good return.
Other companies like Ratesetter (Rolling Rate Account) have quick access accounts, but they don’t typically pay as much interest.
The other great thing about the QAA, when waiting to invest in the auto-lend accounts, money can be placed here to earn 4.10%. This greatly minimizes cash drag on the other accounts.
Loan repayments from other accounts can also be swept here for the same reason.
Great British Business Account (GBBA)
The GBBA offers a higher rate of 6.25% on loans exclusively to businesses. Most of which I find are secured anyway.
I put most of my money in the GBBA for the “hands off” auto-invest at the highest rate they offer with a provision fund.
It’s important to point out that ALL of the Assetz Capital auto-invest funds (not the manual invest) have a provision fund in place. This can be used to offset defaults so lenders keep getting their payments while assets are sold to redeem principle.
Manual Lending Account (MLA)
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.
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
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 0.5% of my portfolio to any single loan, but providing the loan has a good LTV, I would go a little more with Assetz as they have an excellent record of recovery and very low default rates.
Summary – Assetz Capital Review
Assetz Capital is one of my favorite peer to peer lenders for good reason. Their website is great, as are their returns for (mostly) secured property loans. I only invest in their auto-invest portfolios which require zero management time after investment.
I trust Assetz Capital with my money and I have no hesitation recommending them to other investors.
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. Most loans are property secured. If you want to ensure they are, you can just invest in the Property Secured Account for a nice 5.50% rate.
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.
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.
Large Investments –although Assetz Capitals loan book is not as big as Funding Circles, they still manage to gobble up large investments. You just need to keep an eye on the loans in the auto-invest, to make sure they are distributing the money as diversified as possible so you don’t get too much in a single loan.
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.
Zero cost exit –Assetz Capital doesn’t charge any points for exiting your investment early (providing there are buyers available to buy your loan parts). It is very easy to exit the QAA but it can take longer on the other accounts depending on how many buyers there are available.
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.
IFISA available for UK investors – Assetz Capital ISA
Thumbs Down Points for Assetz Capital
Initial Investment Time – investment can take a little bit of time initially because of the popularity of Assetz Capital. And the sheer number of investors trying to get in. The QAA account makes up for it though, because your money will sit there earning 4.10% interest from day one while it’s waiting to be invested in the longer term portfolios.
Unsecured Loans – there are some (very few) loans which are unsecured, given to businesses. So if things were to go bad, you don’t have any collateral. If this worries you, just invest in the Property Secured account and it should put your mind at rest a little.
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.
Risk Factor – 3/10 – Low – Medium
Is Assetz Capital Safe? How Secure is Assetz Capital? I consider Assetz Capital to be at the lower end of the risk scale.
Considering many of Assetz Capital loans are secured, it’s hard not to give them a lower risk rating. However they are lending to 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.
They are one of my largest lender accounts.
As you can see by the TrustPilot Assetz reviews above, many other people like them too, both investors and borrowers alike.
Who Can Invest with Assetz Capital
Most people with a U.K. bank account (see review on TransferWise Borderless Account) who can pass the ID checks can invest with Assetz Capital. Contact Assetz Capital for further information.
Assetz Capital Review – Offers & Signup Links**
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Similar Lenders to Assetz Capital
Ablrate, Funding Circle, Lending Crowd, Kuflink
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