How EasyMoney has never lost a penny of investors’ money
EasyMoney, the investment platform from Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s easy family of brands has never lost a penny on its loans, more than three years on from its launch.
But EasyMoney says that its record of having no losses on loans actually stretches back even further.
Prior to the launch of EasyMoney in 2018, it acquired the successful property lending business of Tower Bridging, built up by industry veteran Jason Ferrando. The combined track record of EasyMoney and Tower Bridging stretches back 15 years with never a penny of investors’ money lost.
Read more: EasyMoney became profitable in 2020
EasyMoney’s team has over 100 years of combined property market experience.
Chief executive Andrew de Candole has previously taken two real estate companies from start-up to public flotation and has over 40 years of real estate development experience. Their top five tips for avoiding defaults on property-backed P2P loans are:
- Property lending should be done by property professionals – We believe there is no substitute for experience of multiple property cycles and having underwritten a large number of property-backed loans. EsyMoney is run by a team with decades of experience in the UK property industry. P2P platforms lending against property development projects run by people who don’t have property development backgrounds may easily miss potential problems.
- Never lend against illiquid properties – That experience through multiple property cycles has taught us that lending should only be secured against saleable properties. That means no unusual properties and no unpopular locations – just good-quality affordable homes in places people want to live, preferably not far from large towns and cities. We don’t lend against high-value property in London or elsewhere.
- Lend to experienced property professionals you know – We only lend to experienced property professionals with established track records of successful projects and repayments. Many of our loans are recommended to us through ‘word of mouth’ or new loans to professionals who have borrowed from us previously and repaid us in full – often many times. They understand the level of detail we demand in their project plans and have a track record of delivering on time and on budget.
- Have construction experts on hand – EasyMoney will never write a property development loan unless our construction and monitoring team, with whom we have worked with for many years, have investigated and signed off on every aspect of the build. This includes costings, plans and timetables. Analysis of ‘saleability’ of designs is important and something that many lenders don’t have the experience to do. Site monitoring visits are always made monthly and drawdowns agreed after detailed analysis of work undertaken.
- Put strict limits on LTV – EasyMoney lends at a maximum of 75 per cent LTV on bridging loans or 70 per cent Loan to Gross Development Value (LGDV) on development loans. The current average LTV on our bridging loan book is under 50 per cent, while the average LGDV of the development loan book is 56 per cent. We lend for 12 months on bridging loans and 24 months on development loans.
All valuations are conservative and undertaken by RICS valuers with experience in the specific location. We get valuations based up ‘time to sell’ of 90 days and 180 days. In addition, we do our own desk-top valuations as a check.
Andrew de Candole, chief executive of EasyMoney, says: “We are proud of our track record. This has been achieved through bringing decades of property experience to bear and sticking rigidly to our underwriting rules.”
“It can be difficult for P2P lenders without extensive property industry experience to identify the potential problems in a project. Once you have been through multiple property cycles and developed multiple properties yourself you learn to avoid the mistakes.”
“As a result of our in-depth, in-house experience we are able to assess deals quickly and fund only the best.”
About EasyMoney
EasyMoney is the investment platform from Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s ‘easy’ family of brands. EasyMoney focuses on making loans to property professionals secured by a legal charge against UK property. EasyMoney currently offers a range of target annual interest rates to investors depending on the amount invested.
- A Classic Account offers up to 3.67 per cent for a minimum investment of £100
- A Premium Account offers up to 5.12 per cent for a minimum investment of £10,000
- A Premium Plus Account offers up to 6.06 per cent for a minimum investment of £20,000
- A High Net Worth Account offers up to 7.01 per cent for a minimum investment of £100,000
- A Professional Investor Account offers eight per cent and over for a minimum investment of £1,000,000+
High-net-worth and professional investors can opt in to see in-depth information on all loans and can call Jason Ferrando, director of lending to discuss individual loans and their portfolio at any time.
As investment levels increase, investors automatically move to higher target rates.
e-Money Capital Ltd trading as EasyMoney is authorised and regulated by the FCA (FRN 231680). Instant access to your money can’t be guaranteed. The property industry is subject to market conditions and therefore your capital is at risk. Peer-to-Peer Investments are not cash savings accounts so they are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Past performance does not guarantee future results. Tax treatment is dependent on individual circumstances and subject to change.
For full terms and to find out more visit easyMoney.com.