Crowd2Fund’s secondary market activity soars
CROWD2FUND’S secondary market saw 452 per cent growth quarter-on-quarter in the three months to 31 May 2017, which the platform said equates to hundreds of thousands of pounds of investments being traded each week.
The peer-to-peer lender said that the value of investments transacted through its secondary market – which it calls the Exchange – rose faster than activity on its primary market, which increased by 390 per cent over the same period.
Crowd2Fund launched its secondary market 18 months ago, to boost liquidity in the less-than-liquid P2P market. Investors can sell and buy loan parts from other investors, at prices based on market demand.
Annual returns from investment opportunities on Crowd2Fund’s primary market currently stand at an estimated 9.3 per cent, with the secondary market trading at an average of 6.5 per cent before fees and bad debt.
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Many in the Crowd2Fund investor community are generating returns by selling investments to others at a premium, the platform said, as demand is currently exceeding supply of new investment projects.
“The Exchange offers a brilliant mechanic to attract investment to entrepreneurs and fast-growing businesses, as investors feel more comfortable that they can access their capital if needed,” said Crowd2Fund chief executive Chris Hancock.
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“Over the next few months we will be enabling our artificial intelligence system, ‘Smart-Invest’, to access Exchange investments, introducing a new dynamic to investing and allowing users to automatically make investments on the Exchange.”
Crowd2Fund has been expanding its product range recently, with a new “venture debt” product for early-stage businesses and a move into secured property finance.