Institutional Investors Taking All The Good Loans!

[rawraw]

Hey guys!

We've been griping about this for quite some time and I've wondered for a long time how much clout this forum may have in terms of aggregate volume of funds invested. 

I've designed a very simple survey to anonymously collect information to approximate this.  Additionally, a person a few weeks ago posted something about organizing a group of investors.  I've included a question about the interest of this, as it is another thing that people seemed interested in.

The link to the survey is here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RCCBRMG

After some time I'll post both the total dollar volume and the dollar volume of those interested in organizing.  I'm hoping this will help some of those who are feeling disgruntled about those pesky institutional investors.

Thanks

[Preston]

Done

[AmCap]

Rawraw - wouldn't an organization for retail investors be three steps short of a fund?

[rawraw]

Rawraw - wouldn't an organization for retail investors be three steps short of a fund?

No idea -- as I said, this wasn't my idea.  I think the people interested were thinking more as a way to command attention to retail investor issues, since (I'm assuming) the assumption is institutional guys have better access to LC's ears.

[rawraw]

Hey guys!

We have 11 answers so far!  Keep them coming

[Lovinglifestyle]

Hey guys!

We have 11 answers so far!  Keep them coming

By "dollars invested" you mean.....??  Account total? 

[rawraw]

Yea, just the total size of all your accounts.

[mo]

The reality of the situation is that right now there is more demand than supply for notes and esp. certain kinds of notes.  I think the two obvious things that are going to happen are interest rates will see downward pressure and there will be a push toward automating the selection of notes either through the mythical API or via a paid third party service which will also have the net effect of reducing profits for smaller players.  While unfortunate I see these trends as inevitable so long as supply outstrips demand I fail to see how forming a group of small investors to lobby lendingClub will change the fundamental supply / demand dynamic

[Fred]

The reality of the situation is that right now there is more demand than supply for notes ....

+1

Time to share the good news of P2P loans to friends and families.

[rawraw]

The reality of the situation is that right now there is more demand than supply for notes and esp. certain kinds of notes.  I think the two obvious things that are going to happen are interest rates will see downward pressure and there were be a push toward automating the selection of notes either through the mythical API or via a paid third party service which will also have the net effect of reducing profits for smaller players.  While unfortunate I see these trends as inevitable so long as supply outstrips demand I fail to see how forming a group of small investors to lobby lendingClub will change the fundamental supply / demand dynamic

Of course!  These are all good points

[mo]

So I guess what I'm asking is; what measures do you think a investor group could propose, keeping the above in mind, that doesn't just boil down to asking for preferential treatment in the market?

[rawraw]

So I guess what I'm asking is; what measures do you think a investor group could propose, keeping the above in mind, that doesn't just boil down to asking for preferential treatment in the market?

It may not be preferential treatment, but perhaps things that help level the playing field a little.  Like Prosper's 50% per investor limit.

BTW, we currently have 18 people representing $998,393 in funds.  Of the 18 replies, 61% are interested in an investor group.  Now I'm sure we have more than 18 active posters on the forum, so keep the replies coming   I'll look at the data closer for anything interesting in the coming days.

[rawraw]

24 Replies Currently:

1,224,243 in Total Assets
66.7% of replies interested in some sort of organized group

I'm going to do some more stuff when I return home.  And if you haven't replied, go ahead

BTW, I'm not suggesting we should all pool our money into a fund.  Just curious what size this forum represents in LC's view.

[brycemason]

A 50% limit per investor won't be functionally any different than a 70% limit. Both policies still result in a loan being wiped out by 2 investors. Force more diversification onto investors by making a 10% limit. I think this would be substantial.

[p2p2p2p2p]

I have seen many loans lately get taken down by 7 or less investors- especially in the D grade. If I'm lucky I am one of those 5