LinkedFinance - new website

spudwould

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

I'll be using my 4 free annual loans to withdraw all I can, Linked is dead to me.
Just glad I got in a few investments before they went to pot completely

Judging by the way this thread has gone quiet .. I think most here have also made up their minds.
Put in for my first withdrawl yesterday and 25hrs later it is still "Pending" :D:D:D
I did not expect anything less

tomwaits48

also waiting over 24 hours to withdraw funds

Cute Hoor

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

I'll be using my 4 free annual loans to withdraw all I can, Linked is dead to me.
Just glad I got in a few investments before they went to pot completely

I'll be joining you within a couple of days, rapidly losing it's attractiveness now

spudwould

spudwould wrote: »

Judging by the way this thread has gone quiet .. I think most here have also made up their minds.
Put in for my first withdrawl yesterday and 25hrs later it is still "Pending" :D:D:D
I did not expect anything less

Day 2 has now passed and my withdrawl is still pending :rolleyes:
Sure they must be busy with the new site and I am sure they will get around to it when they get a chance.
You wouldn't want to be in a rut or have an emergency and depending on it :P

tadcan

They have updated the terms of service which have to be accepted to log back in.
https://www.linkedfinance.com/terms

The new loan is grade 'C' @ 11.2% for three years.

sceach16

1. if you are a company, you must be registered with Companies Registration Office (the "CRO"), you must have traded for at least 2 years as a sole trader, partnership or company or any combination of these entities and filed at least one set of accounts at the CRO.
2. if you are a young company you must have traded for at least one year.

"Linked Finance at its sole discretion reserves the right to publish loan requests that do not meet all of the above criteria"

Why have criteria?

sceach16

You are bidding on Loan Requests and lending entirely at your own risk, and before lending via Linked Finance, you will form your own opinion regarding the creditworthiness of a Borrower and undertake your own research, analysis and assessment and seek your own independent financial advice.

1. Loan grades are published in conjunction with each new loan request. These grades are based on the results of the Linked Finance credit evaluation process and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute investment advice nor do they represent any form of guarantee from Linked Finance.
2. Estimated Bad Debt rates are published by Linked Finance for informational purposes only. They are estimates and may differ from the actual levels of bad debt experienced by Lenders. Linked Finance accepts no liability for such variances.
3. All lending on Linked Finance is undertaken at the sole discretion of the Lender. It is your responsibility to make use of the technology and tools provided by Linked Finance in such a way that allows you to make informed lending decisions.
   
   
   Does anyone know anything about the Linked credit evaluation process? Does anyone know what technology and tools Linked provide?
   

scheister

Took only 3 hours for the 1st loan under the new system to be funded

Squall Leonhart

scheister wrote: »

Took only 3 hours for the 1st loan under the new system to be funded

And at 11.2% ... gotta hand it to them, it used to take a fortnight to get that.

tomwaits48

companies can simply ignore questions now...another retrograde step as far as I am concerned.

Duckett

Looks like LF is redesigning the process for a "trade sale" to a bank. The founders / investors will want an exit at some stage and with a credit process like that of a bank it may well appeal to one of the Irish banks in the not too distant future.

So they are estimating and valuing the 'market price of risk' by setting the fixed loan rate percentages using their grading system.

Yet they are not standing by their valuations of that risk and are removing all transparency from the process.

They did have a market system which priced risk. But that is now gone, and unqualified and importantly unsecured estimates of the risk have taken the place of it.

No profit-driven investor can consider this reasonable. Akin to ebay arbitrarily setting the prices of items on their own site.

Krusty_Clown

Like many others, I'm not happy with the recent changes that have been implemented. I just decided to make my first withdrawal. LF seem to require a copy of photo ID, as well as a bank statement. Seems odd, given that they make these requests on withdrawal only (if these were requirements, shouldn't they be part of account setup/deposits?). Also I notice there is a fee if you wish to withdraw more than 4 times per year. Again, no such fee for deposits?

Have these requirements always been in place?

sceach16

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Like many others, I'm not happy with the recent changes that have been implemented. I just decided to make my first withdrawal. LF seem to require a copy of photo ID, as well as a bank statement. Seems odd, given that they make these requests on withdrawal only (if these were requirements, shouldn't they be part of account setup/deposits?). Also I notice there is a fee if you wish to withdraw more than 4 times per year. Again, no such fee for deposits?

Have these requirements always been in place?

Short answer is yes. Money laundering legislation is very strict. (Reluctantly) I have to give them that one!

bohsman

If loans are going to fill in 3-6 hours they will have a new issue of having an empty live loans section on a regular basis.

tadcan

If loans fill so fast, and people need to use autobid, since many will be at work or busy, it means research is discouraged, putting the onus on the lender, without them understanding how the terms and conditions have changed.

sceach16

tadcan wrote: »

If loans fill so fast, and people need to use autobid, since many will be at work or busy, it mea
ns research is discouraged, putting the onus on the lender, without them understanding how the terms and conditions have changed.

Yes. You are absolutely correct ! While encouraging people to use autobid, Linked has also made it clear that lenders MUST do their own evaluation and cannot rely on anything linked says including the "grading/rating/ fairytaleing".

How anyone autobidding can do this is beyond me. There is a complete conflict between linked encouraging autobids and linked disclaimer of any responsibility for its remarks.

"When you use Autobid:

You are accepting that bids will be placed automatically by the system on your behalf subject to there being sufficient available cash in your Linked Finance account"
Lnked say
"This tool is designed for lenders who may be too busy to look at each individual loan request, but who know how much they would like to lend under the various loan grades and terms."

" Loan grades are published in conjunction with each new loan request. These grades are based on the results of the Linked Finance credit evaluation process and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute investment advice nor do they represent any form of guarantee from Linked Finance."
"Estimated Bad Debt rates are published by Linked Finance for informational purposes only. They are estimates and may differ from the actual levels of bad debt experienced by Lenders. Linked Finance accepts no liability for such variances."
"All lending on Linked Finance is undertaken at the sole discretion of the Lender. It is your responsibility to make use of the technology and tools provided by Linked Finance in such a way that allows you to make informed lending decisions. "

PanAC

Fixed rates have come in with a bang! Of course the first hand-picked few were fulfilled in record time - but things will settle down, it's already started. The next two will drag on a little longer. Whether we believe LF or not (and I don't), we will all spend the next few years shackled to our loans without the comfort of a secondary market or any hint of Buy-Back. Then again, we might get hit by low-flying pigs, and LF may develop a sense of responsibility towards their lending community.

In my oh-so-brief discussion with them they assert they have "skin in the game" in so far as everything they do, their communication, and reputation are of the greatest importance to their survival. At a basic level, they have NO skin in the game, they don't put money alongside Lenders' funds in any loan.

LF need to sort out their T&Cs. Yes! their reputation is very important, so why do they have such a cavalier attitude to their own rules. Conor McAleese assured me years ago that reaching 100% on a loan was important, and when it first appeared to just fall short by a small fraction, he assured me that a final bid had just taken a few moments to work its way through their system. Soon after, loans started coming in at less than 100% - and still were accepted! I could find no reference to the new departure in their Terms. The winners were LF (They got their fees from both borrower and lenders) and the losers were the lenders (who trusted the market and believed that failed loan auctions were a good indication of problems).

I am grateful to the likes of Sceach16 and others here who try to engage with LF on topics that are important to us all. The fact that he is met with a rubber wall, or empty political platitudes is terrible reflection on LF. More of us should be challenging LF. They are not all bad, they just do somethings terribly.

sceach16

Hello. Can you please provide further details of the makeup of your Other and Long-term Liabilities?

Hi Guys, is your 2015 debtors figure at a similar level to the 2014 numbers given here? Are standard terms 30 days? Thanks.

7.30 09/08/16 Hi there. Congrats on a successful business model based on a quality product that is in demand. Could you provide the figures for Dec 15 position and/or current position for key headings such as Debtors, Cash, Stock, Creditors and Loans. It sounds like your business has moved quickly in the last year so providing a balance sheet that's 20 months old is of limited benefit. Best of luck with the fundraising!

18.50 09/08/16. Congratulations on the "C" grade. can you tell us what it means? Thanks.


Probably the end of lender Q&A given the push to take all independent thought out of the process via the drive for autobid only


Q & A is now entirely useless. Another retrograde step.


(Name) has a point.

sceach16

Firstly, can I congratulate you on the testimonials that you have received from several Blue Chip companies. 1. On the accounts, can you clarify what are the main elements of the Other Current Assets of €229K. Does this include Work in Progress or iOS this included in Debtors? 2. What kind of items are included in Stock and is there potential for obsolescence? 3. Cost of Sales is presumably made up of Materials and some other Direct Overheads. Even assuming that it is all materials, the Stock figure at end 2015 was €286K which represents 233% of first half Cost of Sales (€123K0, suggesting that you are carrying 14 months stock. Any explanation? Thanks

What does Grade C mean? This Q could also be answered by any lender that may also know the answer to companies that are Graded A, B & C? Thanks in advance

Have you allowed for the lower value of the UK Pound v the Euro in your intent to expand your UK sales?

sceach16

Guys - how is this a B? Compared to the C's currently on the market this seems on paper to be higher risk and not lower.... (e.g lower revenue, lower profit, less cash on the balance sheet, smaller business, less ability/plans to scale business and based in the west) I must say being honest, the new system is a little perplexing. I didn't see in the numerous launch emails you sent, but what criteria is used to classify loans?

Hi. Are the financial statements published audited accounts that have been sent to the CRO?


I note from the financial statements of The French Corner Limited that directors salaries were €17k. Is this sustainable over the three year period of the loan? What increase in revenue/profitability do you expect with the capex spend. Thanks

sceach16

This the latest from Linked

"The loan grading system is based on our comprehensive credit rating system which we use to assess the affordability and financial strength of every Linked Finance client. While we are not in a position to share the specific details, we can assure that we look at a wide range of financial and non financial information to asses each application. In terms of grading, each grade is granted based on the overall score of every application"

BUT

"These grades are based on the results of the Linked Finance credit evaluation process and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute investment advice nor do they represent any form of guarantee from Linked Finance."

spudwould

@ Linked Finance Team Regarding T. ODonovans question I think it is about time you added a Q & A form that all lenders can see the questions being asked and the replies that are given by the Linked Finance Team.
Also I see the LF team are answering all Q's that are directed at the company .. is this the policy going forward?.
Also noted is the companies no longer have to answer any Q's ... is this also policy?

scheister

tanning saloon loan is now live. Its a one year A loan

did they not have a loan in last two week that was fully subscribed. Im assuming it was rejected in order to go for lower fixed rate loan anyone have any idea

Duckett

The Liberum AltFi Returns Index (LARI) measures the returns generated from Marketplace lending in the UK (index is based on aggregated data from the 4 largest UK platforms)

http://www.altfi.com/data/indices/returns?utm_source=Fortnightly+Factsheet&utm_campaign=4491c7cc1e-Data+Factsheet+28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f5828dc4b1-4491c7cc1e-321225697

Duckett

Interesting article re need for regulation ...

https://fora.ie/crowdfunding-regulation-ireland-2911829-Aug2016

m320325

scheister wrote: »

tanning saloon loan is now live. Its a one year A loan

did they not have a loan in last two week that was fully subscribed. Im assuming it was rejected in order to go for lower fixed rate loan anyone have any idea

The other loan was also 8.5%, they said at the time it would be 50k split into 2 loans

Squall Leonhart

Duckett wrote:

Interesting article re need for regulation ...

Article references UK being only regulated when it comes to P2P, anybody here have any experience with lending on any UK sites?

Strettie11

Squall Leonhart
No experience of UK P2p due to fear over currency impact but have done alot of reading.

Very comprehensive list of P2p here

http://www.p2pmoney.co.uk/companies.htm

Strettie11

sceach16

I am getting the distinct feeling your questions on Artisan Gourmet are being kicked to touch in the hope the loan is funded before the pressure comes on to answer them.

Also not happy information to be provided to you by email directly rather than to all lenders on Q&A forum. I got similar reply from lenders on 2 questions I asked a couple of weeks ago, wonder is this a new direction from LF on answering difficult questions

Strettie