Alternative Finance in the UK in 2015 www.choice loans.co.uk
Definition of Alternative Finance...finance not traditionally offered by the High Street banks and/or a form of finance that was not available 5 years ago
History of Alternative Finance 1700s 1885 Jonathan Swift creates the Irish Loan Fund with micro loans to farmers and small businesses Joseph Pulitzer organises a public campaign to raise $100,000 for the plinth of the Statue of Liberty. All donations are published in his New York World newspaper (use of social media?) 1997 World Tour by the band Marillion is financed via a fan based internet campaign 2004 UK Peer to peer lender Zopa founded 2006 OnDeck launched in the USA 2007 Merchant Cash Advances come to the UK (Merchant Cash Express) 2008 Financial Crash sees lenders retreat from market 2009 KickStarter launches in USA 2010 Funding Circle launch crowdfunded P2B loans in the UK 2011 MarketInvoice start Invoice Trading 2012 Seedrs launches in the UK 2013 Government announces a 300m investment in SMEs via crowdfunding 2013 EZBOB starts lending STUBLs to UK SMEs 2014 AIM listed Chapel Down Vineyard raises 3.9m in equity funding on Seedrs 2015 Retail Bond for Taylor Street Barista closes raising 1.25m via Crowdcube
Characteristics of Alternative Finance Companies still need a credible story however, you can leverage the mania in sectors like Crowdfunding as investors are not as circumspect as professional lenders. Amounts are (for now) mainly in the hundreds of thousands but are increasing and deals of several million have been done Technology has been and remains a big driver in innovation The market is only partly regulated
Types of Alternative Finance Crowdfunding Invoice Finance/Trading Merchant Cash Advances Short Term Unsecured Business Loans (STUBLs) Pension Led Business Finance Overdraft Alternatives Retail Bonds
Types of Crowdfunding Crowdfunding DEBT Peer to peer lending Crowd lending EQUITY EIS/SEIS Rewards/ Donations Pre ordering goods Social Enterprises Causes/Charity
Crowdfunding Debt finance options Up to 250,000 Unsecured or several million Secured Available Repayment terms up to 5 years LTDs, sole traders, partnerships can all apply Minimum 2 years Trading History required Good Credit record required Investors bid on your loan and you get the average of the lowest successful bidders Process should take no longer than 2 weeks Cost of raising finance generally 2 5%
Crowdfunding Equity options Raise up to 150,000 in equity investment as a Startup Raise up to 1m in equity as a trading company Fees are 5 7.5% of the funds raised
Crowdfunding Rewards/Donation options Altruistic/Philanthropic funding from Indiegogo and Kickstarter Not equity sold but rewards or early access or nothing! Popular with social enterprpises, creative media and Not for Profit organisations
Crowdfunding Invoice Finance options Sell selective invoices as suits you without an ongoing commitment Only creditworthy debts eligible Good Credit record required Investors bid in an auction to reduce the discount you have to pay Auctioning multiple invoices at once is also possible Process takes 2 5 days Charges from 0.5 2.49% of each invoice
Merchant Cash Advances Securitisation or sale of future credit card receivables based on historic turnover trends Unsecured, short term finance Fixed fee with no repayment deadlines Very flexible with adverse credit cases Repayment is by giving a small percentage of all future sales towards repaying the advance + fee
Short Term Unsecured Business Loans Loans for periods typically up to 12 months but can be up to 3 years Rapid application process (same day funding possible) Documentation light Sometimes set up fees; interest thereafter charged monthly Flexible loans allowing early repayment Used for cash flow management
Pension Led Business Finance Use an existing personal pension from previous employment or a SIPP to offer a loan to your own company via a SSAS Finance can either be via a loan or a Sale & Leaseback Loans must be secured on an asset with a first charge. Intellectual Property is an eligible asset Loans must be at commercial terms Approved by HMRC and the Pensions Regulator
Overdraft Alternatives Flexible finance of up to 500,000 Security required, usually property or invoices Charges for the facility (approx 0.5% per month) and for usage (approx 0.1 0.3% per day Good credit history and minimum 6 months trading required in most cases Takes 1 2 weeks to arrange
Retail Bonds Not a new idea but the way they are being sourced and financed is Strong promotion through social media; popular with consumer based products e.g. Chilango s Burrito bond (8%), River Cottage (7%), Taylor Street Barristas (8%) Due to novelty value and productrelated perks companies benefit from a lower rate of interest
Future of Alternative Finance Continued rapid growth and innovation Larger deals Greater appetite for risk Yield compression More institutional involvement Greater cooperation with the traditional banking sector Vertical integration/consolidation Increased regulation Successful exits are needed e.g. Mill Group Residential At some point a set back and loss of public confidence perhaps with political ramifications and legislative changes Technology has been and remains a big driver in innovation
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