Assetz extends lender fee again
Assetz Capital has extended its annual 0.9 per cent lender fee again and said even though the platform is reviewing it monthly, it expects the fee to remain in place for the rest of the year.
The peer-to-peer property and business lender introduced the temporary fee at the start of May, after experiencing a substantial drop in its income as a result of Covid-19. In June it extended the fee for three more months.
In September, Assetz extended the fee again and chief executive Stuart Law told Peer2Peer Finance News the platform will reduce the fee when lending under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) and other lending earnings have risen to more normal levels.
Assetz drew down the first of what it believes will be a large number of CBILS loans last month and said it will know the full scale of how successful its CBILS lending has been by December.
The P2P lender has restarted retail lending after a six-month pause due to Covid-19 in September. It has already funded its first loan under its manual lending account, with over £1m funded by retail investors in under two hours.
Read more: Assetz Capital forecasts rise in defaults and recoveries due to Covid-19
“We are now reviewing each month the requirement for the temporary lender fee of 0.9 per cent per annum (the equivalent of 0.075 per cent per month) to see if we can reduce or remove it,” Assetz said in an email to investors.
“Whilst there are positive steps in the right direction, we feel it is still necessary and prudent for the fee to remain in place for now and expect this may be the case for the remainder of the year.
“We will continue to communicate with lenders regarding the fee, letting you know where we are in terms of being able to reduce it or eliminate it altogether.”
Assetz highlighted that the platform sought to ensure that it has remained sufficiently resourced to continue to manage lenders’ loan investments to the highest standard during the pandemic.
