Octopus Choice IFISA attracts 100 investors in week since launch
OCTOPUS Choice has seen 100 people sign up to its Innovative Finance ISA in the week since its launch, which the peer-to-peer lender said was “above expectations”.
The platform, which was spun out of Octopus Investments in April 2016, told Peer2Peer Finance News that it had experienced a “huge amount of demand” for the tax-free product.
“We formally launched the ISA last week and around 100 people have signed up to it so far,” said Sam Handfield-Jones, head of Octopus Choice.
“There’s been a huge amount of demand for the product. We’re really excited about it.
“Uptake has been above expectations.”
The platform’s IFISA targets returns of four per cent per year.
Read more: Octopus Choice close to £50m loan target ahead of first anniversary
Octopus Choice was launched in consultation with financial advisers, who are typically rather cautious to recommend P2P to their clients.
“We did a lot of work to make sure the product was adviser friendly,” said Handfield-Jones.
“In just 14 months since launching Octopus Choice, we’ve got over 400 advisers using the platform so far.”
Read more: Octopus Choice gains full FCA authorisation
Octopus Choice offers property-backed loans to investors, which are underwritten another lender under the Octopus umbrella, Octopus Property.
To provide investors with additional protection, Octopus also invests five per cent of its own money into every loan at first loss, meaning investors can get their initial investment back first, as well as receive any interest due to them before Octopus receives any.
Handfield-Jones said that it is these factors which help attract financial advisers to their platform as they give more security to investors.
