The recent election was swiftly followed by a number of key announcements, ranging from the Bank of England’s rate decision to upcoming policy decisions – all of which bode well for Wellesley’s future and that of its investors.
Firstly, earlier this week, the Bank of England decided to hold the base rate at 0.5%, which came with a slightly more muted growth forecast for the UK economy over the next 3 years, and no rate hikes anticipated before mid-year 2016.
Given that the Bank of England’s rate guidance is linked to inflation targets (dragged down by way of lower oil prices in the last few months), this does not come as a huge surprise. What is less exciting is the slightly lower investment and productivity growth forecast by the Bank of England.
Thankfully however, key policy announcements from the newly formed Cabinet clearly indicate that political will is keen to support growth in the rest of the UK. For example, George Osborne’s statement of intent to create a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ in his Manchester speech this week is actually supported by encouraging data: the growth in job postings in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham clearly outstrip postings in London in April 2015 (CV Library data). Whilst the capital’s economic health is undeniable, this is a great indicator of positive momentum building in other parts of the British economy.
What does this mean for Wellesley? The ‘Northern Powerhouse’ speech validates our policy to maintain a diversified lending portfolio across the UK as whole. With limited exposure to Central London, we are in a fantastic position to support developers in most British cities and ultimately bring new housing opportunities to support regional growth. After all, the lack of housing supply does remain a key concern for British regions, and we are primed to address this.
For our Peer-to-Peer investors, the rate decision furthers ‘financial repression’ as the rate of return on savings accounts is still inexistent. But this also means that for those seeking an alternative, the rates offered by Wellesley constitute a high quality solution as part of a set of diversified investment options.
Wellesley & Co is a Peer-to-Peer lending platform: an asset backed lender with a unique business model which sees the company place their funds first into every loan made. Investment made through the Wellesley Platform are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Wellesley supply their lenders with a discretionary Provision Fund and are currently offering rates of up to 6.32% P/A. As mentioned, Peer-to-Peer lending involves risk, when investing in Wellesley & Co your capital is at risk and interest payments are not guaranteed if a borrower fails to repay their loan. Wellesley & Co can offer you investments that are secured against primarily but not exclusively property, if you would like to be a property investor, the Wellesley platform can make it happen. For further information please enquire – [email protected] .