The day Saints FC explained Peer to Peer lending!
At Kuflink, we are an established bridging lender along with an online Peer to Peer (‘P2P’) platform. We offer investors opportunities to earn interest on loans that are all secured by UK Property*.
You may have seen the video below over the year, but if not it’s well worth a watch, the light-hearted video was filmed with Southampton Football club to promote our peer to peer investment opportunities. Seemed that not everyone knew about the new way of earning passive income or even what Kuflink was all about.
Great watch, we’re sure you’ll agree.
So why are we here?
Kuflink’s main aim is to connect people to Financial Freedom. It is interesting to see how everybody’s investor journey is so different, some people love to know each and every detail about the deals they are investing into (Select-Invest) whilst others have less time to spend looking at the deals and so prefer to spread their risk across a number of different opportunities that we have available at the time (Auto-Invest), which is also available with a tax wrapper (IFISA).
Either is fine by us just let us know if you have any questions.
Kuflink set up the platform so it could use Property* as an asset class, we have a wealth of property experience and and a vast knowledge in short-term bridging loans. By bringing these to the platform we are able to offer great deals to our investors.
As we briefly mentioned above, the platform allows clients to vet the deals individually, seeing the Property*, the valuation report, Kuflink’s loan rating and much more, or they can diversify their investments across a series of loans secured on Property*. Kuflink keeps the asset class to property only*.
So, peer to peer lending with Kuflink is another investment avenue to earn interest secured on Property*. Kuflink’s P2P platform sits firmly with investments such as rent from property, interest from Savings in Banking Institutions, dividends from stocks and shares, and much more.
Kuflink’s fascination with football does not end with Southampton Football Club, we are also the main sponsor for our local club, Ebbsfleet United Football Club and the stadium changed it’s name to the “Kuflink Stadium” back in 2017.
At the time, Harwinder Singh, founder of Kuflink, said: “Kuflink is excited to sponsor Ebbsfleet United Football Club and we look forward to working closely with them on a number of local community ventures.”
With both Southampton and Ebbsfleet we are really looking forward to working closely with them and being able to get back into the Stadiums with all the fans. Hopefully we will start to see this happen again as we move in to 2021.
*Capital is at risk and Kuflink is not protected by the FSCS. Past returns should not be used as a guide to future performance. Securing investments against UK property does not guarantee that your investments will be repaid and returns may be delayed.
List of authorised ISA managers
Kuflink is on the list of managers of Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) authorised by HMRC under the ISA Regulations 1998 (SI 1998 No 1870), as amended.
Coffee with Kuflink; Has Kuflink changed during Covid?
Coffee with Kuflink; a chat with Narinder Khattoare, CEO
Going into 2020 investors had already become more wary about peer-to-peer lending because of the failures of certain P2P platforms, such as Lendy. Potential investors were asking more questions about the security of their money and querying the quoted levels of return. We saw this as a good thing, because too many people had fallen for the hype from P2P platforms with neither the knowledge nor the expertise to operate but which had made claims that would subsequently not be backed up. People approaching us were now asking the right questions and were prepared to listen to all the pluses as well as the potential minuses that make up P2P investment.
Once COVID-19 came along, conversations became more challenging. But by talking to investors openly, with details of our vetting process for borrowers, particularly those who needed time to get through COVID-19, we reassured most investors that payment breaks were needed and loan extensions for some so they didn’t pay too much default interest. 10-15% of our book had payment holidays but we still honoured interest payments to investors.
The conversations with our retail investors was about reassurance, having to educate them on what could happen in a worst case scenario and what our plans were during this period.
Throughout this time, we communicated with the whole investor base letting them know what we were doing and how we were performing, giving regular loan updates and letting our investor community know how much we had paid back to them while other platforms had stopped trading.
It has been tough but we have remained confident in our underwriting, systems and processes. We have shown our investors that we are able to trade in a downturn and still provide good returns to our investors.
Predicting the demise of P2P funding is premature
The growing pains of peer to peer (P2P) investment have been the subject of much dissection in the media.
Has Kuflink Peer to Peer Lending Changed During COVID-19?
Has our relationship changed with investors this year; do we talk to them in a different way, or is the message still the same?
Going into 2020, investors had already become warier about peer to peer lending because of the failures of certain peer to peer platforms, such as Lendy. Potential investors are now asking more questions about the security of their money and are querying the quoted levels of return. We saw this as a good thing because too many people had fallen for the hype from peer to peer lending platforms offering double-digit returns. They neither had the knowledge nor the expertise to operate but had made claims that would subsequently not be backed up. People who have approached us are now asking the right questions that every investor must ask before investing their money. They are more prepared to listen to all the pros and potential cons involved in peer to peer investing.
Large group investors are growing their money with peer to peer lending, and it has become a real asset class. Many financial advisors also recommend p2p lending to their clients. In addition, institutional investors like pension funds and hedge funds are also getting involved. Now more than ever, new investors are flocking to peer to peer lending platforms to take advantage of the returns offered.
Quick Overview of P2P Pros and Potential Cons
Peer to Peer investing offers a lot of benefits to both lenders and borrowers:
- High Returns for Investors: peer to peer investment usually offers high returns to the investors compared to other traditional types of investment options.
- A Comparatively Easier Source of funding: for borrowers, P2P lending can be a more accessible way of getting funds compared to conventional institutions such as banks. This might be because of the low credit score of the borrower or a different loan purpose.
- Low-Interest Rates: peer to peer loans typically have lower interest rates for the borrowers because of the intense market competition between lenders and low origination charges.
Nonetheless, peer-to-peer investing does have some potential cons.
- Credit Risk: P2P loans are exposed to higher credit risks. The majority of the borrowers applying for the peer to peer loans have low credit scores that don’t allow them to get a traditional loan from a bank. Hence, investors have to be aware of the default probability of their counterparty.
- No Government Protection/ Insurance: as an investor, it is important to know that the UK government doesn’t provide any type of protection to the investors if the borrowers default.
- Legislation: a few jurisdictions don’t allow peer to peer investiment or need the platforms that provide these services to comply with investment regulations. As a result, P2P may not be available to some lenders or borrowers.
Even with a large number of loans being lent, it’s still a minor percentage of the total lending market. However, it is continuously growing and is becoming an important part of the financial system.
How has Kuflink Handled COVID-19 as Peer to Peer Lending Platform?
Once COVID-19 came along, conversations became more challenging. But by talking to investors openly, with details of our vetting process for borrowers, particularly those who needed time to get through COVID-19, we reassured most investors that payment breaks were needed and loan extensions for some, so they didn’t pay too much default interest. 10-15% of our book had payment holidays, but we still honoured interest payments to investors.
The conversations with our retail investors were about reassurance, having to educate them on what could happen in a worst-case scenario and what our plans were during this period.
We communicated with the whole investor base throughout this time, letting them know what we were doing and how we were performing, giving regular loan updates and letting our investor community know how much we had paid back to them while other platforms had stopped trading.
It has been tough, but we have remained confident in our underwriting, systems, and processes. We have shown our investors that we are able to trade in a downturn and still provide good returns to our investors.
Kuflink Going Strong During Coronavirus Pandemic
Coronavirus outbreak and the continuous threat have affected many p2p platforms, but Kuflink has not only been able to stay stable but has increased turnover.
- Working at full capacity: Kuflink team has been working from home at full capacity and managing everything efficiently. All our operations and services have continued to remain unaffected.
- There are no additional charges: even though many platforms have taken this route to survive, we have not introduced any additional charges during COVID-19.
- Study Loan Performance: Most of our loans have been performing as planned. All our loans are backed by UK property*. However, following the government guidance, we have worked through it without borrowers to help them in this difficult situation.
- No Reduced Interest Rates: we have not reduced our interest rates. Kuflink continues to offer the same great interest rates for both new and existing customers.
- Always Open for Contact: regardless of the circumstances, our team is always available for our customers in every aspect. Our customers can call us on 01474 33 44 88, email us at hello@kuflink.com or talk to our agent via live chat on our website www.kuflink.com. Our working hours are from Monday to Friday, 09:00 am to 05:30 pm.
*Capital is at risk, and the FSCS does not protect Kuflink. Past returns should not be used as a guide to future performance. Securing investments against UK property does not guarantee that your investments will be repaid, and returns may be delayed. Tax rules apply to IF ISAs and SIPPs and may be subject to change. Kuflink does not offer any financial or tax advice in relation to the investment opportunities that it promotes. Please read our risk statement for full details.
Kuflink Review – My Peer To Peer Lender Experiences After 2 Years
I have decided to dip my investment toes into the Kuflink water in 2018. I have since found the company and lending options to be enticing.
