Zopa legacy portfolio drags on P2PGI performance
P2P GLOBAL Investments (P2PGI) has blamed its poorly-performing legacy Zopa portfolio for its latest net asset value (NAV) dip.
The alternative finance-focused investment trust generated a NAV of just 0.31 per cent in February 2019, down from 0.45 per cent in January, and 0.75 per cent in December. This brings the trust’s annualised NAV to 3.7 per cent.
In its monthly newsletter, P2PGI’s investment managers said that the performance of the continuing portfolio was strong in the month but other factors had impacted the NAV.
“The legacy Zopa portfolio continues to deliver poor performance with a year to date unlevered return of 1.7 per cent (gross yield less bad debts and servicing) and after deducting debt costs, generated a negative contribution to the NAV return,” the investment managers said.
“We continue to reduce the overall exposure, with the remaining NAV exposure to Zopa at the end of February 2019 being £46m, compared to £86.5m at the end of February 2018.”
The shorter month of February, sharebuybacks and currrency headwinds also impacted the NAV return, P2PGI added.
However, the investment managers said that the repositioning of the portfolio “remains on track, and the performance of the continuing book is “in line with target”.
Over the past few months, P2PGI has been focusing more on specialist lending assets, and moving away from the US consumer lending market. As a result, it has been working to reduce the size of its run-off portfolio.
By the end of February, the continuing portfolio had increased to 87 per cent, up from 84 per cent at the end of 2018, meaning that the run-off portfolio had reduced to 13 per cent.
Read more: Legacy portfolio weighs on P2PGI gains