Lend Academy provides details on IBM Watson's acquisition of Promontory Financial Group, a firm used to help navigate complex banking regulations; IBM has acquired Promontory to train Watson on Dodd-Frank which includes 22,000 pages of regulation; Promontory has experience from a long list of banking veterans and will help train Watson on financial risk modeling, surveillance, anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC); the result will be an artificial intelligence solution that can be implemented for all aspects of compliance, regulation and monitoring; Brian Walter, Watson global industry leader for banking and financial markets at IBM will be speaking at LendIt USA 2017 in a featured keynote discussing how financial firms are using artificial intelligence and how it's expected to evolve. Source
The marketplace lending industry has evolved with investments coming from a range of market channels; to help marketplace loans integrate even further into the mainstream the industry needs involvement from 'gatekeepers' and needs to educate the asset allocator community; Lend Academy discusses the investment consultant process to bring new types of investments to asset allocators; to help facilitate this communication, LendIt is offering asset allocators free tickets to LendIt USA 2017 and is planning a special event at the conference for asset allocators, hosted by fund managers. Source
Lend Academy provides details on the tax documents you will receive as an investor in Lending Club or Prosper loans; most investors will receive a 1099-OID which details taxable interest income from investing; other forms may also include a 1099-MISC or a 1099-B; income earned from P2P loan investing is taxed as ordinary income; Lend Academy also outlines details on capital losses and capital loss carryovers which can vary by state. Source
The app is available only for the platform's investors; Lend Academy provides screenshots from the app and more details in their article; investors can now invest through the mobile app and also open a new account; the app provides much of the same functionality available through the desktop application allowing investors to monitor their account and make investments from any iOS mobile device. Source
Lend Academy summarizes the activity of past LendIt PitchIt finalists in their article; a LendIt competition for startup businesses, PitchIt provides finalists the opportunity to present their business in front of a panel of judges and an audience of investors with the goal of receiving new venture capital funding for business growth; since 2015, PitchIt has helped support the success of the many finalists detailed in the Lend Academy article. Source
Lending Club and Prosper allow for tax efficient investing on their platforms through an IRA; Lend Academy provides details on opening an IRA with Lending Club or Prosper and explains why investing in P2P lending is best done through an IRA. Source
In collaboration with Energy 4 Impact, UKAid and the CME Group Foundation, the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance has released a study on crowdfunding and P2P lending in Africa and the Middle East; Lend Academy provides details of the report in their article; covers 46 countries in Africa and 12 countries in the Middle East, featuring data on 70 alternative platforms. Source
Lending Club released its fourth quarter and full year earnings results on Tuesday, February 14; Lend Academy provides details of the earnings release in their article; the lender originated $8.6 billion in loans for 2016; net operating revenue for the year was $495.5 million, up from $426.7 million in 2015; net income fell to -$146 million from -$5 million in 2015; banks increasingly returned to the platform in the fourth quarter of 2016 funding 31% of loans, an increase from 18% in the third quarter. Source
LendingRobot has announced the launch of a new alternative lending hedge fund; Lend Academy provides details in their article; the new fund will add to the service offerings at LendingRobot which currently include aggregated marketplace lending investment accounts for both retail investors and financial advisors; the new LendingRobot Series fund will invest in online loan origination platforms and offer multiple strategies for investors with expected net returns ranging from 6.86% to 9.66%; the fund is only open to accredited investors and requires a minimum investment of $100,000; it has a 1% management fee with fund expenses of up to 0.59%. Source
Lend Academy provides 2017 predictions for the industry and analyzes last year's predictions in their article; predictions for 2016 that did occur included a new auto lending product at Lending Club, online lending platform launches from banks, an increased focus on retail investors and a new industry trade association; in 2017 predictions include at least a dozen new bank partnerships, positive reception for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's fintech charter, lending platforms offering banking products, increased use of artificial intelligence and significant foreign investment from China in US platforms. Source