A quick guide to peer-to-peer investing with Squirrel

If you’re looking for competitive returns on your money, reliable monthly repayments, flexible terms, and excellent credit risk management systems, peer-to-peer investing with Squirrel could be for you.

Our peer-to-peer lending platform is a robust, trusted platform designed to provide investors with stable, steady returns at minimal risk.

Investors haven’t lost a single cent on the platform since it was established in 2015. That means we haven’t missed a single repayment, and we intend to keep it that way. 

If you're more of a visual person, watch JB give a three minute run-through on how it works:

So what is peer-to-peer lending?

Peer-to-peer lending is a service that matches lenders with borrowers. It matches people who are looking for loans with people who can fund loans.

At Squirrel, we have three peer-to-peer lending classes: home loans, personal loans, and business property . Home loans and property loans are new to the platform – we added these options in March 2020.

What makes Squirrel’s platform special?

There are several things that make our platform special, and in some cases, unique.

Reserve funds

The main thing that makes our peer-to-peer lending platform unique is our use of reserve funds.

Reserve funds exist to protect investors from credit losses in the event that a borrower defaults or misses a repayment.

We have reserve funds for each of our three investment classes a percentage of the borrower interest is diverted into the appropriate reserve fund. The amount we divert may be small or large depending on the borrower’s risk level.

The benefit of reserve funds for investors is risk diversification. Reserve funds diversify your risk by giving you exposure to the entire investment class – our entire loan book – as opposed to the risk of investing into individual loans.

Diversification equals lower risk, which helps us to provide stable and steady returns. 

Secondary market

Another thing that makes the Squirrel platform special is our secondary market.

The secondary market gives our investors the opportunity to sell loans back into the platform at any time, provided there are other investors within the platform willing to take on these loans. This gives a degree of liquidity.

Auto-invest and auto-withdrawal

The platform is designed to support automated investments and withdrawals to make managing your money even easier.

Auto-invest means you can automatically invest any money that is naturally repaying into your account back into the platform.

Auto-withdrawal allows you to set a certain amount that you wish to come out of the platform each month – which is similar to an income product.

Regular interest payments

Another benefit is you’re going to get regular interest payments. These are either fortnightly or monthly, depending on which frequency the borrower has chosen.

Flexibility and choice

Our platform is designed to be flexible and provide choice. With three investment classes offering varying returns and terms, there are options to suit any type of investor. Hit the links below to find out more about each investment class:

• Home Loans
• Business Property Loans
• Personal Loans

Very happy with my Squirrel investment. Platform works well and so easy to monitor using the app". - PAK, Auckland

Keen to check out more reviews from our investors? Take a look on Shopper Approved.

The opinions expressed in this article should not be taken as financial advice, or a recommendation of any financial product. Squirrel shall not be liable or responsible for any information, omissions, or errors present. Any commentary provided are the personal views of the author and are not necessarily representative of the views and opinions of Squirrel. We recommend seeking professional investment and/or mortgage advice before taking any action.

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