Meet Rawinder Binning, Trustee at the Kuflink Foundation
Rawinder Singh Binning, co-founder of Kuflink and a passionate trustee of the Kuflink Foundation, opens up about looking after those in need, investing locally and making investment options accessible to the public.
My journey into property investment started right when I got out of uni. With a law degree in my pocket, 
I joined the family business. I started buying small houses and apartments and took a keen interest in working with architects and building technicians. I started to understand the dynamics between different areas of expertise such as planning law, architecture and building technology.
With this newly found interest, I got into commercial development as well as buying commercial assets. I did a whole series of property courses and read all the books – Rich Dad, Poor Dad being one of my favourites.
Moving into Commercial Property Development
Commercial property development is way more challenging than private property development as it’s not guaranteed that a property is going to be rented. Private properties tend to sell regardless. With commercial property there is definitely more risk involved, so you need to play it smart.
“The secret to successful commercial property investment, in my opinion, is to invest locally.”
If you want to ensure that a commercial property will get rented, you need to invest locally. This enables you to speak to agents, connect with the council and really understand the assets that you’re working with.
This is something I appreciate about Kuflink – those who use the platform are armchair investors relying on local people who understand the local market. What’s more, we make sure we look into the person in charge of the development, not just the asset. You really want to invest in someone with experience, especially on the bridging side of things. After all, there is a lot involved in managing and marketing a commercial property project.
“When we select an investment, we look at the person as well as the asset: do we think they can manage this project?”
Giving Back to the Community Through the Kuflink Foundation
We founded the Kuflink Foundation charity in 2008, when my sister passed away. She had a fondness for kids and my entire family already had a long-standing tradition of financially supporting local football clubs. With the Kuflink Foundation, we wanted to formalise our desire to invest in future generations and help those in need.
“Our family has always looked to see who is in need. If no one is there to help them, we will.”
My family consists of very caring people. From the moment my parents set foot in this country, they were always ready to help out the vulnerable and provide opportunities. With the Kuflink Foundation, we find initiatives that are underfunded and invest in them. When a project has heart, you’ll see that people start turning up for it. Once the projects get strong enough, we let the community take over.
Making Investing Accessible to the Public
Our family tradition of opening up opportunities translates into the Kuflink platform, too. With a minimum investment of just £100, we try to make investing accessible to Joe Bloggs and his family, too. Most of our £100 investors are just starting out, but with Kuflink’s monthly payments, they’ll slowly start seeing a return on their modest investment. This is when their returns start becoming more tangible and they begin to think about investing another £100.
“The rise of accessible investment platforms over the past few years has been a welcome change.”
I love how over the past few years more and more finance apps and investment platforms have come into existence with the aim of making saving and investing easy and accessible. Canopy, Monzo and other companies like them help people capitalise on opportunities they might not have been aware of before and keep track of their spending better. P2P platforms like Kuflink help people who want to make money but don’t know how to make high-return investments. All these initiatives work together to make everyone just a little bit smarter and a little bit better at managing their money.
It’s my dream to one day to write an educational book about property investment and development, sharing everything that I’ve learnt on my journey and more.
My Own Investment Strategy
Kuflink has always taken a stake in every investment made. This used to be a 20% share, but as we made more and bigger investments, this stopped being financially viable. We’ve now lowered our share to 5%, but we intend to always stay personally invested in the projects we finance.
“Having a stake in each investment makes us work that little bit harder.”
I personally invest through the Kuflink platform as well. I’ve taken a keen interest in the technology behind the platform, and I recently moved the tech team into our office. One day, we sat together with CTO, the tech team and the developers and played around with an investment return calculator that we’ve been making.
We found out that, if you invest £20,000 a year in an ISA, you could make a 237% return over the span of 30 years! The return percentage would be the same with smaller investments as well. Calculations like these illustrate just how profitable an ISA investment strategy can be.
The Future of Investing
I remember when I took out a mortgage with a bank, and realised that what makes that loan profitable for a bank is basically compound interest. That is a viable business model that works for peer-to-peer platforms as well, only we can typically offer better rates than most banks.
In my opinion there is nothing wrong with banks, but they are slowed down by legacy systems in a way we aren’t. Newer lending platforms such as Kuflink have much more agile technology.
“Before the financial crisis of 2008, a bank could lend a single pound up to ten times without any repercussions.”
The way I see it, P2P lending platforms and banks are part of a financial ecosystem where we all help each other. In two or three years, I believe banks will catch up with the services spearheaded by newer financial entities – the services that investors have grown to expect. This way, we all work together to make our financial services collectively better.
Nattalie-Weeks-Journey-From-Banks-To-P2P
Nattalie Weeks started her career in banking during the “Big Bang” – the sudden deregulation of financial markets in 1986. Witnessing some significant changes in regulation from inside the banking sector, as well as the crisis of 2008, she now occupies a crucial role as Head of Collections at Kuflink.
My career in the banking sector started right after grammar school at the early age of 16. It was the start of the “Big Bang” – a sudden deregulation of the financial markets by Margaret Thatcher – and banks were expanding really quickly. The abolition of fixed commission charges and the significant changes in how the stock markets worked resulted in a surge of market activity and banks were taking on a lot of staff. I was amongst those newly hired staff.
The Start of My Career in Banking
My first ever job in banking was in what is now known as the Wealth Management Division of NatWest. I worked as a Financial Services Officer, overseeing the settlement of our customers’ share trades and thus helping them achieve their investment goals. In 2000, after a period managing share portfolios for Corporate entities including large charities, I moved into a part of the bank that was looking after Sterling and USD bonds – here I became the Securities Settlement Officer.
In March 2000, NatWest was acquired by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in a £21 billion deal. At the time, this was the largest takeover in the history of banking. My colleagues and I got the option of redundancy, but I redeployed as a Mid Corporate Credit Committee Assistant. My job role included arranging all logistical aspects of Committee meetings, collating papers, and taking and agreeing minutes – most of which I didn’t understand at all at that stage.
“Instead of managing portfolios of stocks and shares, I’d suddenly entered the realm of corporate and commercial banking, lending money to companies.”
It was a very steep learning curve, but I’ve always been of the mind that if I don’t know something, I’ll ask. By continuing to learn and ask questions, I finally made it to Operations Manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The 2008 Financial Crisis
In 2008, the deregulation of 1986 had started taking its toll. It became apparent that many of the mortgage-backed securities that banks and private securitisers had been lending amongst each other actually had very little underlying capital. Especially in the United States, loans and mortgages had been made available to pretty much anyone, regardless of whether they would be able to pay off their debt. This very unethical practice harmed countless individuals as well as the banking system. Once the mortgage bubble burst, it resulted in a full-blown international banking crisis.
Inside the Royal Bank of Scotland
2008 was a horrible year for the staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Our team was working very hard to look after our customers, but we sometimes felt like a lot of things were out of our control.
“Initially, lots of people lost their jobs. Then, the lay-offs came in waves.”
In London, the crisis was keenly felt, as it’s an expensive city in which to operate, and many of our offices moved to other UK cities such as Birmingham. From 2008 onwards, underwriting standards of mortgages tightened, and banking regulations became stricter again. Borrowers and banks had to prove that their mortgages were viable – something which I feel they should have been doing all along.
I was lucky to keep my job for eight more years, and finally left the Royal Bank of Scotland in December 2016.
Switching from Banking to the P2P Sector
By the time I left my job at the RBS, I had been working in the banking sector for over 30 years. I was keen for a new challenge and started looking for opportunities closer to home, near Gravesend. I put my CV out there, and when a role became available at Kuflink, I applied. As the peer to peer lending sector works differently than the banking sector, the role constituted another learning opportunity for me. That said, the nature of my role is pretty much the same: in the end, it’s just adding up numbers.
“The work environment at Kuflink is very friendly. It’s a family-run company, where everyone is very much part of a big team.”
When working in the banking sector, you are a small cog in a big machine – you never get to see the whole process that you’re part of. Here at Kuflink everyone is in one building, which changes everything. I sit right next to Sales and Investor Relations, and I can easily walk over to colleagues of any department to ask a quick question.
More Accessible Finance
When compared to banks, Peer to Peer lending services are much more accessible to investors as well as borrowers. Although we have strict underwriting processes, we are open to borrowers that a high-street lender might not consider – for example, loans for property investors with limited experience and loans for different kinds of properties (commercial, residential, buy-to-let).
“We’re passionate about helping people who might want to start their portfolio.”
Getting a loan from a bank can take a long time. Peer to Peer loans can bridge the gap, allowing borrowers to get up and running. We offer short-term loans and can deliver quickly. This makes our lending services more agile than those of traditional banks.
Accessible Investing
Investing in small business loans is much more transparent and accessible in the P2P sector as well. At Kuflink, our minimum investment is as low as £100, allowing inexperienced investors to dip their toe in and start seeing the benefits. With the rise of innovative finance ISAs – otherwise known as IF-ISAs – investors don’t pay any tax on the interest they make via peer to peer lending. This helps them to maximise their earnings.
Making It Work Together
In my job as Director and Head of Collections, I welcome new investors and onboard new loans, working with borrowers to ensure they meet their commitments. We have clear written-down rules around loan servicing, repayments and (in the worst-case scenario) asset recovery to keep our investors safe and follow the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules and regulations.
That said, we offer a much more personal service than a bank would. Our Collections team makes contact with borrowers throughout the term of the loan, and checks in when a payment is late. If a borrower is struggling to service their loan because of unexpected circumstances, we will work together with them to find a suitable solution. It’s in the best interest of everyone – investors as well as borrowers – to get the borrower to where they need to be. I really like the attitude at Kuflink of making it work together.
“At Kuflink, we want to make our borrowers succeed.”
P2P fights back as coronavirus chaos threatens UK economy
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