Assetz Exchange leadership credited with “pedantic accuracy”
A recent review of social housing lender Assetz Exchange has credited the platform’s leadership with an attention to detail that can be characterised as “pedantic accuracy”.
The analysis of the platform by P2P research firm 4th Way seeks to assess the degree to which Assetz Capital’s exit from the P2P market could signify a similar future for investors at its sister company Assetz Exchange.
Assetz Capital announced that it would run off its retail-funded loan book in December in response to rising investor outflows amid higher interest rates. As 4th Way points out, lenders have been shocked to find that they are expected to cover costs via additional fees while the loans are repaid.
The concern is whether Assetz Exchange, which shares the brand’s name and a minority shareholder in Assetz Capital chief executive Stuart Law, could suffer from a loss of lender confidence because of its namesake’s recent wind-down.
In the blog, 4th Way head of research Neil Faulkner argues that the leadership ethos of the two companies fundamentally differ, making it unlikely that Assetz Exchange would behave the same way in a similar situation.
“To describe the two key people at Assetz Exchange, they’re business-like and passionate about their business, yet they’re not stereotypical executives like you might see in Hollywood films,” Faulkner said.
“I mean you can read them better, they’re more open in how they speak, and they’re not cold-blooded, Wall Street executives. They’re not go-for-your-throat types, hustlers or sales hounds. One of them displays extreme attention to detail that a colleague of mine described as ‘pedantic accuracy’. They have integrity. They display emotion, even if not always intentionally, like most of us do.”
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In contrast, he describes the leadership style of Law, who has no votes or authority to control Assetz Exchange, and his top team as “shrewd, experienced, professional businesspeople with a prime focus on growing their business quickly”.
“They’re guarded and careful in what they say, because they’re very cautious as to how the information they give out might be used and because they want to control external influences,” Faulkner explained, hinting at a culture where optimising shareholder wealth is prioritised, perhaps over any potential damage to investor sentiment.
Although Faulkner says his character analysis cannot unequivocally guarantee that Asstez Exchange wouldn’t charge lenders additional fees, he feels it is very unlikely and the platform would only do so if “they had no choice whatsoever”.
“I believe [Assetz Exchange is] a lot less likely to charge lenders extra wind-down fees if it decides to exit P2P lending merely as a change of strategy,” he said. “And I also think it’s less likely to have a big need to charge those additional fees.
“Quite a few other P2P lending companies have changed business models (just as quite a few companies that were initially non-P2P went the other way). The majority have managed to find ways to get lenders out with a lot less bother.”
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