LinkedFinance - new website

sceach16

sceach16 wrote: »

I put this on the Q/A section of the loan. Linked emailed me a response and then deleted my question. I have reposted it.

Got a response in Q/A which I cut and paste here

Hello Sceach. The reason why the loan was reduced was that in consultation with the borrower and to ensure a fair and favourable auction result, it was decided to reduce the loan by €6k. Linked Finance has always been about helping viable businesses grow. The loan requirement is not contingent on purchasing a specific asset for a specified amount and the borrower is entitled in such an instance to reduce the loan amount. We accept your point that the timing of the reduction. Normally a reduction would be made prior to this correspondence going out. Linked Finance would review any decision to lower our loan amount after considerable deliberation, but try to remain as fair as possible to both our lenders and our borrowers in every instance. Thanks, the Linked Finance team.

spudwould

cronos wrote: »

Have you gotten any update over the year?

I did at first ... now NOTHING! NIL! ZILCH

Also a loan is late with repayment this month .. I may be one of the unlucky ones ... but Linked Finance FIRST and FOREMOST are here to make a profit .. and I find the lack of transparency is a right put off!
Especially if loans go into default .... surely a monthly mail to advise of how the directors guarantee is progressing is not too much to ask.

strettie

sceach16 wrote: »

Got a response in Q/A which I cut and paste here

Hello Sceach. The reason why the loan was reduced was that in consultation with the borrower and to ensure a fair and favourable auction result, it was decided to reduce the loan by €6k. Linked Finance has always been about helping viable businesses grow. The loan requirement is not contingent on purchasing a specific asset for a specified amount and the borrower is entitled in such an instance to reduce the loan amount. We accept your point that the timing of the reduction. Normally a reduction would be made prior to this correspondence going out. Linked Finance would review any decision to lower our loan amount after considerable deliberation, but try to remain as fair as possible to both our lenders and our borrowers in every instance. Thanks, the Linked Finance team.

Seach16,

Added my comments to Q&A for Sean Brennan Accountants just to highlight to Linkedfinance you are not the only one

hgfj

The person who has posted 3 times on this forum under the user name badzae IS NOT THE SAME badzae as on LF. Why someone would want to represent themselves as someone else from another site I don't know but it makes me wonder.

cronos

spudwould wrote: »

I did at first ... now NOTHING! NIL! ZILCH

Also a loan is late with repayment this month .. I may be one of the unlucky ones ... but Linked Finance FIRST and FOREMOST are here to make a profit .. and I find the lack of transparency is a right put off!
Especially if loans go into default .... surely a monthly mail to advise of how the directors guarantee is progressing is not too much to ask.

Totally agree. Very much put's me off putting in any more money.

hgfj

Some might find this interesting - double u double u double u.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/jobsenterpriseandinnovation/Linked-Finance-Presentation.pdf

Scroll to page 16 note 8 - 8.
Linked Finance will provide all necessary information so as to ensure members are made fully
aware of any risks they may wish to undertake. The Website will be TOTALLY TRANSPARENT so that decisions
are made on a fully informed basis



Really?

spudwould

hgfj wrote: »

Some might find this interesting - double u double u double u.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/jobsenterpriseandinnovation/Linked-Finance-Presentation.pdf

Scroll to page 16 note 8 - 8.
Linked Finance will provide all necessary information so as to ensure members are made fully
aware of any risks they may wish to undertake. The Website will be TOTALLY TRANSPARENT so that decisions
are made on a fully informed basis



Really?

AHAHAH I only got as far as Page 7 which outlines Case studys.

Case study# 5 Evo Fitness
I gave this company two loans and they went bust and not a penny received from the Directors Guarantee!

WHY OH WHY wold Linked Finance use this company as a case study!

Tar.Aldarion

Hmm lucky enough nothing has defaulted on me yet but I've been a bit picky and only did 10 loans at 12-15% (sure winners like cornucopia etc). A lot of info seems missing/not answered. The directors guarantees don't seem to mean much from reading here.

sceach16

Change from yesterday! Email says 30k...Loan is 25k on website ! At least there was a straight response to one query on the Q/A section.....the others ignored. Cut and Paste below.
Q
Linkedfinance, following on from the 2 questions from other lenders yesterday, as this loan was also reduced by 5,000, how about adding a line to the top of the business profile page, something simple like "Change List: Loan amount reduced from 30,000 to 25,000. Reason: xxx". Also add other changes there, like it the loan duration is extended or any changes are made to the financial details (eg. an error was corrected). This should be something which could start immediately.

A:
Hi Linkedfinance. Thanks for the question. The reason we reduced the loan by 5k (from 30K to 25K) on the last day was to hopefully help reduce the interest rate on the loan.

TheSheriff

Was also steadily investing in linked finance over the past few weeks, going to pull back on it now. The lack of transparency they have is getting worrying.

gordongekko

No sure what all the negativity is about. If ye are not happy with it just don't invest in it.

sceach16

gordongekko wrote: »

No sure what all the negativity is about. If ye are not happy with it just don't invest in it.

Obviously people should not invest if they are unhappy with the terms. I like Linked Finance and the rates. However, there is much room for improvement. I do not like terms/amounts being changed midway or later. More detailed financial info is coming in Q/A but transparency must improve. My first query on these loans related to a borrower coming back for another loan in a few weeks after a previous one. They now state it in the profile. Also they date a balance sheet now. These are because of pressure from this site, Q/A,emails and direct calls.:)

I am only 6 months on the site and have not had a bad loan (yet) but I can see those who have most unhappy. This is one area where Linked
need to improve on transparency.

m320325

sceach16 wrote: »

Obviously people should not invest if they are unhappy with the terms. I like Linked Finance and the rates. However, there is much room for improvement. I do not like terms/amounts being changed midway or later. More detailed financial info is coming in Q/A but transparency must improve. My first query on these loans related to a borrower coming back for another loan in a few weeks after a previous one. They now state it in the profile. Also they date a balance sheet now. These are because of pressure from this site, Q/A,emails and direct calls.:)

I am only 6 months on the site and have not had a bad loan (yet) but I can see those who have most unhappy. This is one area where Linked
need to improve on transparency.

Yes I agree with everything you said here

gordongekko wrote: »

No sure what all the negativity is about. If ye are not happy with it just don't invest in it.

We want linkedfinance to improve and be a success. Even if we stopped lending as you suggested, we would want Linkedfinance to be successful as it will be up to 3 years before we are repaid all our existing loans.

cronos

sceach16 wrote: »

Change from yesterday! Email says 30k...Loan is 25k on website ! At least there was a straight response to one query on the Q/A section.....the others ignored. Cut and Paste below.
Q
Linkedfinance, following on from the 2 questions from other lenders yesterday, as this loan was also reduced by 5,000, how about adding a line to the top of the business profile page, something simple like "Change List: Loan amount reduced from 30,000 to 25,000. Reason: xxx". Also add other changes there, like it the loan duration is extended or any changes are made to the financial details (eg. an error was corrected). This should be something which could start immediately.

A:
Hi Linkedfinance. Thanks for the question. The reason we reduced the loan by 5k (from 30K to 25K) on the last day was to hopefully help reduce the interest rate on the loan.

Its totally unfair on the lender to manipulate the loan like this. I keep in good faith making loan offers that would have succeeded if the loan value wasn't been manipulated.

Worst part is I would have been willing to go to the top end of the rate that was on offer. Just wasn't online.

spudwould

I am thinking if Linked Finance is worth it at this stage.
I started investing in Linked Finance when it started back in May 3 years ago and I said I would use it as a project to see what my returns were after 3 years.
So far just under 8% of loans have DAFAULTED ... all with directors guarantee ... but it seems these guarantees are just word of mouth as no a cent has been paid back.
I will continue to invest up to the 3 year mark in May and then make my decision on whether to stay or leave.

In the meantime I have stated to invest in Mintos and only on guaranteed loads ... so far 2 have defaulted and so far Mintos have repaid in FULL the amounts invested and some interest!

As far as I can see Linked Finance get their 2% up front from the companys looking for loans . and also around 1.8% from investors.. seems to me a NO BRAINER for Linked Finance as a win win situation . and a win LOSE for investors if a loan defaults.

Time to make a not so hard decision.

manafana

sceach16 wrote: »

This loan (closing today) was originally set at 45000 euro. Even today , at 12.45, Linked sent an email promoting the loan of 45000. By about 13.20, it had morphed into a loan of 39000!

I am sure it is within the rules but TRANSPARENCY has been dumped again. All Linked and the lender need to do is show the reduction.

This was the biggest loan I have seen and was possibly too big a mouthful but it does not help to change the goalposts when the ball is in play.A short explanation would help.

Incidentally, I think it is a good loan and am happy to maintain my bids IN THIS CASE. linked may hit flak if terms of other loans are changed .

agreed if the goal posts move it gots be clear to bidders when and how it could happen and emails sent.

lcwill

spudwould wrote: »

In the meantime I have stated to invest in Mintos and only on guaranteed loads ... so far 2 have defaulted and so far Mintos have repaid in FULL the amounts invested and some interest!

I am also a fan of Mintos - very nice site, wide range of loan types (mortgage, Car loan, personal loan, business loan, invoice financing) across several countries, good secondary market, very transparent, good autobid system, and low minimum bid so easy to diversify, plus as you mention some of the loans are guaranteed.

Seems like it should be possibile to get 10% gross return for very low risk. I also use Linked Finance and Bondora but Mintos is the only one I am considering adding more money to at the moment.

Owen_S

Is it true that there are no fees involved at all when you lend on Mintos? I have been using Linked Finance, but the 1.2% charge really cuts into any earnings, especially with interest rates on 'lower risk' companies being relatively low.

lusk29

lcwill wrote: »

I am also a fan of Mintos - very nice site, wide range of loan types (mortgage, Car loan, personal loan, business loan, invoice financing) across several countries, good secondary market, very transparent, good autobid system, and low minimum bid so easy to diversify, plus as you mention some of the loans are guaranteed.

Seems like it should be possibile to get 10% gross return for very low risk. I also use Linked Finance and Bondora but Mintos is the only one I am considering adding more money to at the moment.

Is it possible to just bid on guaranteed loans? What gross return should I expect for them?

spudwould wrote: »

....In the meantime I have stated to invest in Mintos and only on guaranteed loads ... so far 2 have defaulted and so far Mintos have repaid in FULL the amounts invested and some interest!

how can I see a list of guaranteed loans that you mentioned?

Does this seem right:
I've clicked on Invest, Primary Market, More Filters

Loan Type = Secured Car Loan

This returns a list of 1025 loans, I presume there isn't this many guaranteed loans available, so I need do something else?

Thanks in advance for help

lusk29

spudwould wrote: »

So far just under 8% of loans have DAFAULTED ... all with directors guarantee ... but it seems these guarantees are just word of mouth as no a cent has been paid back.

default rate is higher than I expected

ShoulderChip

lusk29 wrote: »

default rate is higher than I expected

this is for one guy though right?

he may have only 13 loans for all we know and one defaulted, and it may have done so on its last payment in which case he would make a profit from this loan as well as all the other 12 loans.

My point is we need real stats.
Otherwise we are purely making assumptions as bad as me assuming he is a he and not a she.

spudwould

ShoulderChip wrote: »

this is for one guy though right?

he may have only 13 loans for all we know and one defaulted, and it may have done so on its last payment in which case he would make a profit from this loan as well as all the other 12 loans.

My point is we need real stats.
Otherwise we are purely making assumptions as bad as me assuming he is a he and not a she.

You are quite right .. repayments have been made .. I was just giving the default rate on the amount of loans I have invested in.
BUt I do see where you are coming from .. I crunch the numbers later and post them here.

At the moment I have 57 loans.

spudwould

Owen_S wrote: »

Is it true that there are no fees involved at all when you lend on Mintos? I have been using Linked Finance, but the 1.2% charge really cuts into any earnings, especially with interest rates on 'lower risk' companies being relatively low.

Yes so far I have had n o fess with Mintos ... and I can not find any hidden charges either.
It seems investors are just taking a load of the investment companies.

My investments have all been between 11% & 14.5% which all are guaranteed buyback.

spudwould

lusk29 wrote: »

Is it possible to just bid on guaranteed loans? What gross return should I expect for them?




how can I see a list of guaranteed loans that you mentioned?

Does this seem right:
I've clicked on Invest, Primary Market, More Filters

Loan Type = Secured Car Loan

This returns a list of 1025 loans, I presume there isn't this many guaranteed loans available, so I need do something else?

Thanks in advance for help

If you click on Invest, Primary Market, More Filters

Buyback Guarantee = YES

2,387 loans returned.
These loans are either Secured Car Loans, Secured Personal Loans or Secured Business Loans.

Also they give Secured loans on Invoice loans at a "A" rating.

strettie

Hi spudworld,

Just a few areas to call out in relation to Mintos:
- Mintos everywhere on their site they mention they are currently giving a 100% discount on lender service fees and that this may change. So at some point in the future you could be paying a fee
- the statistics page on the site is very good and something Linked finance should have but if you look through it currently on average it looks like 10% loans are running late. This may put pressure on them to introduce fees
- I see from your posts you are investing in loans with secure buyback of 60 day late loans but have you any information on the finance companies securing these loans? Have they the resources to cover a significant number of defaults

Cute Hoor

spudwould wrote: »

Yes so far I have had n o fess with Mintos ... and I can not find any hidden charges either.
It seems investors are just taking a load of the investment companies.

My investments have all been between 11% & 14.5% which all are guaranteed buyback.

Is the 11% to 14.5% pa or over the lifetime of the loan.

Just having a look at the Mintos site, there appears to be an extra layer between the borrower and the eventual lender (you), all who will need their cut. So in order for you to get 14.5% the borrower will have to be paying significantly higher, the loan Originators will have to get their cut, and Mintos will have to get their cut. If they (the Originator or Mintos) are guaranteeing repayments, then the cut they are taking will have to be pretty significant to allow for bad debts which will inevitably arise. These Originators must be akin to Provident in Ireland where a one year loan will cost you 157% APR.

Cute Hoor

spudwould wrote: »

So far just under 8% of loans have DAFAULTED ... all with directors guarantee ... but it seems these guarantees are just word of mouth as no a cent has been paid back.

That is unlucky, a very high %.

My experience is 1 default (roughly 0.5%, 0.33% in money terms), a director guaranteed loan, in 1 year and 4 months with them.

This is the latest communication I have received in relation to that 1 default:

xxxxx xxxxxx xxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx Payment Update

Hi xxxxxx

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to engage with xx xxxxxx in relation to her loan we have been unable to do so.

We have handed this matter to our third party collection agent whom we have tasked with commencing legal action against xx xxxxxx.

Once I have any update on the progress of this action I will revert to you immediately.

spudwould

Cute Hoor wrote: »

Is the 11% to 14.5% pa or over the lifetime of the loan.

Just having a look at the Mintos site, there appears to be an extra layer between the borrower and the eventual lender (you), all who will need their cut. So in order for you to get 14.5% the borrower will have to be paying significantly higher, the loan Originators will have to get their cut, and Mintos will have to get their cut. If they (the Originator or Mintos) are guaranteeing repayments, then the cut they are taking will have to be pretty significant to allow for bad debts which will inevitably arise. These Originators must be akin to Provident in Ireland where a one year loan will cost you 157% APR.

I believe that the lender does get the full 11% to 14.5% and yes as far as I know you are totally right .. the percentage that the Originator or Mintos charge is something like 157% especially if they default.
Reading up on this a few months back .. once you default they are like vultures and you end up paying up to 10X the original loan.

What I like about the site is you can lend over 3 days to 72 months.
Lately I have been lending for 1 month @ approx: 1%
I also have loans over 36mnts @ 14.5% (As this is the same as LF) just to see if there is a difference in returns.

I like the diversity and also the transparency as they show loans in default from
Current
1-15 days late
16-30 days late
31-60 days late
60+ days late
Default

spudwould

strettie wrote: »

Hi spudworld,

Just a few areas to call out in relation to Mintos:
- Mintos everywhere on their site they mention they are currently giving a 100% discount on lender service fees and that this may change. So at some point in the future you could be paying a fee
- the statistics page on the site is very good and something Linked finance should have but if you look through it currently on average it looks like 10% loans are running late. This may put pressure on them to introduce fees
- I see from your posts you are investing in loans with secure buyback of 60 day late loans but have you any information on the finance companies securing these loans? Have they the resources to cover a significant number of defaults

Yes I did see that they may introduce a fee but at the moment there is no fee with is quite attractive for lenders.
TO be honest I had 2 loans go into default and 1 was bought back at the 60 mark and the other at 35 day mark .. I did receive some interest on both payments although not the full interest .... but to be honest just me original investment back would have done me fine.
I see this as a no brainer .. No fess and guaranteed loans.

What I do not like about LF is
They hide a lot from lenders.
Loans are not rated
NO Guarantee
Everything seems to be an uphill struggle ie Getting information, Company figures .. surely even if a sole trader they should provide some sort of statement if you are looking for a loan?

strettie

spudwould wrote: »

Yes I did see that they may introduce a fee but at the moment there is no fee with is quite attractive for lenders.
TO be honest I had 2 loans go into default and 1 was bought back at the 60 mark and the other at 35 day mark .. I did receive some interest on both payments although not the full interest .... but to be honest just me original investment back would have done me fine.
I see this as a no brainer .. No fess and guaranteed loans.

What I do not like about LF is
They hide a lot from lenders.
Loans are not rated
NO Guarantee
Everything seems to be an uphill struggle ie Getting information, Company figures .. surely even if a sole trader they should provide some sort of statement if you are looking for a loan?

Agree with you on all the linked finance points