Introducing the P2P CEO of the year contenders
Five peer-to-peer lending bosses are competing to be named CEO of the year at the upcoming Peer2Peer Finance Awards.
The five nominees represent some of the best of the sector, with expertise across property lending, crowd bonds, business lending and bridging lending.
So who are the top five top P2P leaders of 2022?
Louis Alexander, chief executive, SoMo
Having started out as a barrister, Alexander founded The Bridge Crowd in 2012 and relaunched it to the market as SoMo in 2020. The lender specialises in bridging loans and auction finance.
Alexander has been on a hiring spree in 2022, expanding his team, amid “phenomenal growth”.
Mike Bristow, chief executive and co-founder, CrowdProperty
Mike Bristow’s leadership led CrowdProperty to post a £635,617 profit in the 12 months to 31 March 2021. The residential development lender has distributed more than £255m to fund almost £600m worth of property across the UK. Bristow is also a founding board member of the Innovate Finance 36H Group, which lobbies on behalf of P2P lending and other fintech lenders.
Narinder Khattoare, chief executive, Kuflink
As chief executive of Kuflink, Khattoare has grown the property lending platform to become one of the biggest names in the UK P2P sector, with a loan book in excess of £220m and zero investor losses reported to date. Kuflink is aiming to grow its loan book to £300m by next year as it scales rapidly with new hires and upcoming product launches. Khattoare also has his eye on an IPO as soon as the time is right.
Stuart Law, chief executive and co-founder, Assetz Capital
Law founded Assetz Capital in 2011 and 10 years later it had grown to become the largest P2P lender in the UK, with a loan book of more than £1bn. Assetz played a vital role in supporting the nation’s small businesses and housebuilders during the pandemic by participating in the government’s Covid loan schemes. The Assetz group of businesses now includes Assetz Exchange, a P2P property lender which specialises in leasing properties to charities and other social housing groups.
Atuksha Poonwassie, co-founder and managing director, Simple Crowdfunding
Having co-founded Simple Crowdfunding in 2013, Poonwassie steered it through the pandemic before resuming lending earlier this year. She is also director of the UK Crowdfunding Association, which meets to discuss best practices, lobbying activity, horizon scanning, and data analysis, with a specific focus on P2P lending. She has been a vocal supporter of both P2P and crowdfunding, and regularly engages with regulators, government bodies and industry figures.
The winner will be announced at the inaugural Peer2Peer Finance Awards on Tuesday 6 December 2022.
Read more: Peer2Peer Finance Awards: Shortlist announced!