According to a report by AltFi, P2P Global Investments (P2PGI) is continuing their share buybacks; P2PGI has purchased shares on 14 days in the past two months with buybacks ranging from 3,400 to 50,000; the fund currently trades at a 25.3% discount to net asset value; contributing factors to recent performance have been cash drag from currency hedging, level of defaults and volatility surrounding Brexit. Source
Simon Champ is a pioneer in the lending space creating the first publicly traded investment vehicle; P2PGI launched in may of 2014 in a £200 million IPO and they have now raised a total of £900 million; Champ shares how he first became interested in this space and how much the industry has changed since the fund first launched. Source
P2PGI entered into an agreement to sell over $1bn worth of US consumer loans; the sale will reduce the funds net asset value (NAV) by less than 1 percent and effect their leverage & hedging requirement; the move is part of a broader strategy the fund laid out in September. Source.
P2PGI will be increasing its allocation to asset-backed loans in its investment trust; the firm will primarily focus on secured real estate loans however it will also be increasing its allocation to invoice credit lending and other secured lending investments; the increased focus on secured loans follows a previous announcement on targeting UK originated loans. Source
P2P Global Investments' shares fell 20.7% on the London Stock Exchange in 2016; the fund's portfolio manager Simon Champ provides some insight on the fund's performance; the underlying assets reported a lower than expected 4.1% return due to increased delinquencies from loans at the midpoint of their duration; hedging costs have also been a factor with approximately 60% of US loans in the portfolio; as the investable market expands the fund is likely to increase its investment in European loans to help diversify away from currency risks. Source
P2PGI aims to raise £209 million through the deal and is working with Deutsche Bank to facilitate the Zopa loan book securitization; the portfolio will contain 31,153 loans with an average weighted interest rate of 7.2%; according to AltFi, P2PGI will hold a material net economic interest for the duration of the transaction and will also purchase at least 5% of each class of notes. Source.
The fund expects to provide a dividend of 15p per quarter by the end of the second quarter of 2018; this would represent a yield of 7.8%; the fund shared that it had a pipeline of attractive yielding assets of £400m and will increase share buybacks. Source