Growth Street (GS) is a peer-to-peer market lender focusing on UK SMEs. They have two products: one for borrowers and one for lenders (investors). Their first product is lending working capital to the right business for excellent interest rates.

GS’s target market is UK SMEs. i.e. firms which are still growing but need more capital to do so. It is common for these firms to have their capital tied up in unpaid invoices. The GS product bridges this gap in the form of a revolving credit facility. Their second product is an investment product; investors can invest in these loans.

Overview of the Growth Street Investment Product:

• Investor ROI: 6.3% (market rate) or 6.2% (priority rate)
• Interest Payment: Monthly
• Loan maturity: 30 days  (The amount of time investor funds are blocked)
• Minimum Investment: £10
• Auto reinvestment: Yes (i.e. hands off automatic lending)
• Structure:  Investors lend to individual borrowers, but the risk of their investment is diversified across the whole portfolio.
• Protection: Every Growth Street loan is secured. Lenders are further protected by the Loan loss provision.

Strengths and Opportunities

• Growth Street is simple to use; easy to register, easy to invest and easy to reinvest.
• Investors need only to choose these options when investing:
  • Interest rate setting: Priority Rate / Market Rate
  • Reinvesting of interest: Yes / No
• Transparency: Investors can see the contract before investing in a loan.
• Loan Maturity: 30 days, this means that there is:
  • Reduced need for a secondary market.
  • Reduced risk of loan defaults
  • Investors can access their funds within 30 days of giving notice.
• Market Niche: GS has been operating in this segment for three years with a good track
• record. This means that investors are piggybacking on this economy of experience which should reduce risk and increase the potential for returns. GS can monetize this niche, by identifying opportunities where the rewards are high but the risk is lower. While other competitors will have less real world experience when doing so.

• Lender Security:
  • Loan Loss Provision Fund increases the protection of lenders.
  • Loans are guaranteed through assets held by the borrowers, but capital is at risk.
  • GS monitors the company data in real time.
• Other P2P Platforms that offer investors access to invoice financing loans come at a higher entry point. Growth Street is a competitive way to access this market.
• Regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). In practice, this means that GS abides by a number of rules and regulation which should increase the protection of investors.
• Growth street has had only 3 defaults since Growth Street launch in 2014 of these they have recovered 99.99%. This shows the GS have good systems in place to choose the best borrowers.
• Learn more: Lending on Growth Street.

Weakness and Risks

• Shorter maturity loans also mean that the money lent will be returned back quicker, as long as there is fresh demand for capital, this is not a problem. If the deal flow is slow, there could be cash drag, meaning idle money waiting to be lent.
• When investing through Growth Street there are other risks outside the circle of control of GS. These include fluctuation in the value of Sterling and the performance of the UK economy.

Conclusion

Growth Street is a well managed P2P lender, with a solid three-year track record. Their Loan Loss Provision currently stands at £335,000. Their loan book is growing and it now stands at around £7 million. This means that there is a lower risk of GS defaulting because it is earning the fees necessary to maintain its operations. Growth Street provides a great way to access the SME lending market. Diversification is one-way investors can protect their lending portfolio from risks concentrated in one sector.

To learn more on Growth Street visit:/https://www.growthstreet.co.uk/

Learn more about p2p lending:

P2P Lending Companies

What is peer to peer lending?

Beginners guide to p2p lending

Choose a peer to peer investment

Monitoring p2p portfolio.

Comments:

• Would you like to update any of the above information?
• Have you invested through Growth Street, what was your experience?
• Have you tried peer to peer lending? What do you think of it?
• Let’s discuss!

To learn more on GrowthStreet visit: https://growthstreet.com

Learn more about p2p lending:

P2P Lending Companies
What is peer to peer lending?
Beginners guide to p2p lending 
Choose a peer to peer investment
Monitoring p2p portfolio.

Reader Comments:

• Have you invested in GrowthStreet, what was your experience?
• Do you know of similar businesses, how do they compare?
• Let’s discuss!