We're opening the door for retail investors

When one door closes, another opens. Whilst other p2p lenders in the NZ market may be reducing opportunities for retail investors, Squirrel are doing quite the opposite.

Squirrel are excited to announce we are making some huge changes to our p2p investing platform that will make it both easier and more accessible for retail investors to get better returns on their money.

In March, Squirrel investors will be able to invest in Kiwis buying property as well as the usual personal loan investment class already available. Given the background to Squirrel with over 10 years experience writing over a billion dollars in mortgages each year, this is a natural progression for us into a space we’re very comfortable.

In fact, Squirrel have already funded a number of mortgages that will be made available to our p2p investors via the secondary market once the changes are live in March, creating further opportunities for investors looking to get better returns on their money.

What kinds of returns can be expected ­­from investing in our p2p platform?

By nature, the borrowers we’ll be funding for a p2p mortgage will carry lower risk than personal loan borrowers, which in turn affects the investor returns. When we launch with the new investor options, we expect interest rate returns to be:

1. 4.0% p.a. (variable rate) for home loans for residential property

2. 5.0% p.a. (variable rate) for business property loans for small developments or property investments

3. 6.0% - 7.0% p.a. (fixed rates) for personal loans investment classes

Things to note about Squirrel’s investment options:

• Looking after investors’ money is the number one priority. It's our intention that no investor will lose even a single cent by investing through Squirrel and we're delighted to say we've delivered on that to date*.
• We're the only peer-to-peer lender in New Zealand to have separate Reserve Funds covering each of our investment classes to help cover expected credit losses as well as offering greater predictability to investors.
• Squirrel provide fortnightly or monthly returns on p2p investments.
• Our credit policy for the new mortgage based investment classes is conservative with no high LVR lending, no poor servicing capacity, and definitely no cowboy property developers.
• Investors have the ability to list investments on the secondary market should they wish to get their money back faster.

With the new investment classes becoming available, Squirrel are aiming to be able to match investment orders on these classes as they come in without delays, which is great news for investors especially in light of recent news with another p2p lender closing its doors to retail investment.

* Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.

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.

To view our disclosure statements and other legal information, please visit our Legal Agreements page here.