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Ratesetter investment side closing down
Posted: February 2nd, 2021, 8:28 am
by chas49
Investment portfolio sold to MetroBank. All investments to be returned (no release fee) on 2 April. Interest as normal until then.
(Source:
https://www.ratesetter.com/blog/rateset ... -portfolio)
Re: Ratesetter investment side closing down
Posted: February 2nd, 2021, 9:41 am
by AleisterCrowley
I've got 75% of my Ratesetter money in the holding account at the moment - is it worth putting it all on the market at going rate just to collect a few quid interest, or is there a risk that unravelling on the 2 April will take much longer ?
Are they actually accepting new money on the market?
Re: Ratesetter investment side closing down
Posted: February 2nd, 2021, 9:50 am
by chas49
AleisterCrowley wrote:I've got 75% of my Ratesetter money in the holding account at the moment - is it worth putting it all on the market at going rate just to collect a few quid interest, or is there a risk that unravelling on the 2 April will take much longer ?
Are they actually accepting new money on the market?
It looks as if they currently are allowing you to move money from Holding into the market. IMHO given that they have dealt (largely) with the backlog of investment release requests, and I assume that the transfer of loans to MetroBank will just happen without having to be processed as part of a long queue, I'm leaving my investment where it is for now - it's effectively 2.4% p.a. ish for a short-term investment which seems pretty good really. YMMV !
Re: Ratesetter investment side closing down
Posted: February 3rd, 2021, 10:29 am
by Nocton
My experience for the last month is that repaid money has just sat for weeks waiting to be re-invested. Nothing has happened, so I assume that there are not enough borrowers to take it up - Metro is supplying the demand. I have queried RS about it, but so far no reply.
Re: Ratesetter investment side closing down
Posted: February 3rd, 2021, 2:44 pm
by chas49
Nocton wrote:My experience for the last month is that repaid money has just sat for weeks waiting to be re-invested. Nothing has happened, so I assume that there are not enough borrowers to take it up - Metro is supplying the demand. I have queried RS about it, but so far no reply.
I just looked at the rate queue (under Edit rate - Set your rate) - it's only when you get down to a rate as low as 0.6% that the queue is effectively empty. It rather looks like they've closed new deals off by adjusting the queue. Oh well, I've got a couple of months at a reasonable rate for the cash that's already invested. I imagine some of it will get repaid before April and just sit in Holding.
Edited to add: it turns out I only have a small amount due to be repaid before Metro takes it on. And surprisingly most of my cash is on a new consumer loan from January with a 48 month term at 2.7% - so I'll get that for two of those 48. (Pity about the other 46 months)
Re: Ratesetter investment side closing down
Posted: February 3rd, 2021, 4:43 pm
by Nocton
Thanks, chas49, that's useful to know. I had assumed that their going rate would adjust downward automatically to clear the balance. But it doesn't, presumably because there are no longer enough borrowers. I've now withdrawn the several thousands waiting to be re-invested.
Have you any idea where to put the money when we get it back? I'm torn between another PtoP or Premium Bonds to the max allowed, which more or less guarantees a win every month which is worth 1% tax free - 1.25-1.67% gross, better than any safe savings rate elsewhere.
Re: Ratesetter investment side closing down
Posted: February 3rd, 2021, 5:00 pm
by chas49
Nocton wrote:Thanks, chas49, that's useful to know. I had assumed that their going rate would adjust downward automatically to clear the balance. But it doesn't, presumably because there are no longer enough borrowers. I've now withdrawn the several thousands waiting to be re-invested.
Have you any idea where to put the money when we get it back? I'm torn between another PtoP or Premium Bonds to the max allowed, which more or less guarantees a win every month which is worth 1% tax free - 1.25-1.67% gross, better than any safe savings rate elsewhere.
I'm pretty sure there are better qualified Fools than I to answer that one. I think the general feeling on here has been that P2P is risky. I've reduced my exposure to RS to about 1/3 of what I had at one point. When the queue to get investments returned was apparently over two years, it didn't look too hopreful. Fortunately, the Metro buyout has sorted that, but I'm not sure I'll risk P2P again in the short-term at least.
I've been pushing a bit more in the direction of Premium Bonds too - it's a safe haven and near instant access. Will be interested to see what anyone else suggests (may need a separate thread to attract replies?)
Re: Ratesetter investment side closing down
Posted: February 4th, 2021, 1:19 pm
by Nocton
I've had a reply from Ratesetter. It's just as I thought:
Following the acquisition of RateSetter by Metro Bank in September 2020, all new consumer lending has been funded by Metro Bank's deposit base rather than investors. As a result of this no new loan contracts have come on to the market for investor funds to be matched to. This means that it is taking longer for funds on the market to be matched, as the only contracts coming on to the market are those which other investors are releasing to withdraw their funds.
As it is less likely that funds on the market will be matched you may wish to consider withdrawing this money and moving it elsewhere. While funds are unmatched on the market they are available to be withdrawn with no charge.