Property focus helps BondMason boost returns
A SHIFT towards property loans has helped BondMason achieve annual returns of 8.52 per cent over the past three years, the peer-to-peer investor has reported.
The fund, which aims to get its clients an eight per cent return by selecting P2P loans across approved platforms on their behalf, has invested £19.6m across 4,351 underlying loans up to the end of July 2017.
An investment update revealed six loans out of the 4,351 have had to be written off.
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BondMason said it has upped its exposure to property loans since 2015 as part of a shift towards asset-backed lending and now places funds across 27 platforms, after considering more than 100.
Typically, at least two thirds to three quarters of the underlying loans are in “well secured” loans, BondMason reported.
Its latest update showed 73 per cent of the fund is invested in property loans.
“The proportion of underlying loans that relate to property has increased, and there has been a reduction in the amount of invoice discounting loans as a proportion of overall client exposures, reflecting a conservative focus to the approval of underlying loans,” an investment update said.
“We tend to source property bridging finance as opposed to the riskier property development finance.
“We don’t currently allow receivables to be sold through our platform where the underlying loan is a consumer loan, although we may consider doing this in 2017/18 where good security is provided.”
The firm revealed in May that it was also increasing exposure to non-P2P lenders to broaden its offering and was working with the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment to increase awareness among financial advisers.
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