| Alternative Funding Network |
Welcome to our ‘Views and Insights’ blog page. Driven by the insights and opinions of our extensive Expert network, AFN members can explore a variety of topics and sector-specific issues faced by the alternative finance sector.
A regular contributor includes Andy Davis, former editor of the FT Weekend Addition and current editor of Informed Funding. To register interest in becoming an AFN Expert or to become a Guest on our Blog, please contact AFN@Informedfunding.com
Views and Insights
Since I’ve been involved in the peer-to-peer lending industry, which is about two and a half years now, applying traditional marketing principles has always proven to be tricky. It’s a new market with huge potential, so narrowing your target audience
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Author
Nick Moules
2014 has been a balancing act for the Chinese banking system but has created an advantageous environment for alternative financial systems to thrive where it has faltered. In the case of P2P lending, 2014 has turned out to be a watershed year, with th
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Author
Tania Ziegler
Commercial finance brokers have traditionally played an important role in securing various types of finance for UK businesses. A qualified broker would help you search for the right source of finance, saving you time as a business owner to focus on gr
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Author
Elliot Gold
A Peer-to Peer Lending platform is an alternative banking model used by investors and borrowers alike to access liquidity and investment opportunities not currently being provided to the public by the mainstream banks. Because of the current economic
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Author
Herbert Leonelli, Business Development Manager,
A few weeks ago, the AFN caught up with Ian Thomas, Co-founder of LendInvest to learn about their model and how property based lending via P2P can enhance the marketplace for borrowers and lenders alike. Be sure to check out the LendInvest Case-study
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Author
Ian Thomas, Co-Founder LendInvest
Equity Crowdfunding – It’s pretty ugly right now but could be SO much more.
The wind is certainly blowing fair for the equity crowdfunding industry in the UK at the moment. New platforms are emerging almost every day; the Government is supporting th
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Author
Dr. Christopher Sier-Director of FiNexus
The founders of the UK’s Crowdfunding and P2P companies should be feeling pretty good - things have gone about as well as anyone could have expected over the past year. The challenges of scaling up businesses like these are significant. In lending mar
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Author
Andy Davis
I had the pleasure of attending the breakfast launch of the London Loan Fund (held at Lloyds HQ) – it deserved a bigger turnout, but wasn’t the only event I attended on 30 April that was knocked by the Tube strike!
The London Loan Fund is £5million
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Author
Chris Dines
P2P Supply and Demand: A potential short-term lending shortage?
In microeconomics, the principle of Supply and Demand determines the ebbs and flows of the market. When looking at the development of the alternative finance industry, the success of P2
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Author
Tania Ziegler
When the 19-year-old, and refreshingly non-media trained, Andy Murray blurted out during the 2006 World Cup that he wanted “anyone but England” to win, he sparked a wave of ire in tennis’s English heartland.
The gawky teenager and future Wimbl
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Author
Louise Beaumont, CEO PlatformBlack
Patrick Jenkins, the banking editor at the Financial Times, recently wrote an article that identified a number of problems associated with the rapidly growing peer-to-peer (P2P) lending sector (“Why peer-to-peer lending remains inherently unsafe”, FT,
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Author
Mark Hannam, Director IMMFA
There are a number of key points to consider and it should be stressed that no two campaigns are identical. There are hundreds of things that can help or hinder a campaign. Generally though, these areas need considering first:
· Demographic
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Author
Chris Buckingham
ThinCats facilitation of the UK’s first peer-to-peer index-linked loan reflects a wider change and development in the peer-to-peer and peer-to-business sector. Crowdfunding and peer-to-business lenders are growing rapidly. This was undoubtedly origina
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Author
Sarah Ward
Over the past few months, the rate at which money is flowing towards crowdfunding platforms has accelerated noticeably. This could be a temporary blip – one of the regular swings between excess supply and demand that you’d expect to see in markets suc
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Author
Andy Davis
For those who watch the world of alternative finance, the past few weeks have hugely strengthened the view that this industry – a growing wave of non-bank organisations from start-ups to listed PLCs that provide debt and equity to small businesses – i
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Author
Andy Davis
Many thanks to Paul Grant for writing this blog. If you'd like to learn more about crowd funding, take a look at our topic hub for The Exchange 2012:
http://www.knowledgepeers.com/theexchange
In June www.escapethecity.org:
http://escapethec
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Author
Paul Grant
