EDINBURGH, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LendingCrowd, one of the UK’s fastest-growing alternative finance lenders to the SME market, launches one of the first Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISAs) by a P2P lender this week with a target rate of return of 6 per cent a year.
With a minimum investment of £1,000 and up to £15,240 in the current tax year, the investment is spread across a portfolio of LendingCrowd loans to established SMEs across the UK. Investors are also able to transfer in from existing ISAs.
On 1st November 2016, LendingCrowd became one of the first P2P lenders to achieve full Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation paving the way for the launch of an ISA product.
This followed the 2015 Summer Budget, when HM Treasury confirmed that P2P loans would form a new category of ISAs - the Innovative Finance ISA - and would be added to the existing classes of Cash and Stocks & Shares Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs).
Stuart Lunn, CEO and co-founder of LendingCrowd, said: “We’re excited about launching the IFISA this week and see a massive opportunity for direct investors and the intermediary market to access the underlying asset class through a tax-efficient wrapper.”
- Peer-to-peer lending is a new way for businesses to raise money where, instead of borrowing from the banks, individual lenders are able to lend directly to SMEs and in 2015, over 20,000 UK SMEs raised over £3 billion through P2P.
- Past returns are not indications of future performance. Returns from LendingCrowd investments are not guaranteed and investments are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. As with all investments, capital is at risk.
- The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took over the regulation of the UK’s peer-to-peer lending sector on 1st April 2014.
