Investor appetite endures despite pandemic panic

Investors are still willing to invest in peer-to-peer loans, a new funding round has shown.

Property-backed P2P lender Blend Network revealed today that it has just funded its second-ever largest loan, despite the economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

114 investors funded a £700,000 loan for the redevelopment of a Stafford-based office building into an apartment complex. It is the first tranche of a £1,950,000 total loan facility.

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Yann Murciano, founder and chief executive of Blend Network, said that the loan proved that investors  still want to put their money in P2P.

Murciano added that family offices are particularly keen to invest in private debt at this time, while retail investors are seeking the inflation-beating returns that property-backed P2P lending can offer.

“We are delighted to see this 10 per cent return p.a. loan funded by 114 contributors,” Murciano said.

Read more: Lenders have approved over £22bn in emergency loans

“At a time when there are increasing concerns about a decoupling between the equity market and the real economy, leading to fears of a market correction, we have seen an increase in appetite from family offices who are looking into private debt, and since many don’t have an origination and due diligence arm, they lend through peer-to-peer platforms like ours.”

Roxana Mohammadian-Molina, chief strategy officer at Blend Network, added that the loan was funded in just under two business days, by a combination of retail investors investing as little as £1,000, and some very high net worth investors and family offices.

“They all co-invested in this loan under the same conditions,” she added. “We look forward to keep funding more similar deals.”

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