17th July 2018
While Crowd2Fund is one of the only loans-based crowdfunding platforms that allows investors to directly choose the companies they invest in, we are also able to accommodate those who want the ease of investing their money across a wide range of opportunities automatically.
Enter Smart-Invest; an AI-powered feature that allows you to automatically invest your funds into live opportunities on our platform. You choose your desired savings plan and risk appetite; we do the rest. Sit back and watch your funds grow steadily at a similar APR to regular investments.
Why Use Smart-Invest?
The Smart-Invest feature is designed to be the ideal investment tool for users who want to grow a well-performing and diversified portfolio but have limited personal input. These might include people who are always on the move or those who want to see their investments spread across several businesses in exciting and innovative industries.
Making financial decisions for an AI system to manage provides better value than seeking the services of more traditional financial advisors, who can be expensive and tend to less accessible to everyday retail investors. Hefty wealth management fees are also not an issue at Crowd2Fund, with only a 1% fee being taken from each repayment.
Smart-Invest also offers similarly attractive returns to individual investing, currently sitting at an APR of 10.24%*. In comparison, one of the best performing easy-access cash ISAs currently generates a return of 1.3%.
How Does Smart Invest Work?
Crowd2Fund users can enable the Smart-Invest feature by adding funds to their wallet and then setting up their own bespoke investment plan by confirming the amount they wish to invest each month, the desired level of risk they want to assume, as well as and savings goals.
This provides Smart-Invest with enough data to automate future investment. Users are able to get on with their busy lives and let the algorithm do the hard work for them. Repaid loans are then automatically aligned with the same investment criteria, allowing investors to take full advantage of the returns available without having to actively deploy matured investments.
Smart-Invest also works in conjunction with Crowd2Fund IFISAs. This allows investments to grow tax-free and benefit from potentially higher returns as well as compounding interest.
What About Risk?
All loans are vetted by the risk team who run compliance checks, comprehensive analyses on an applying company’s filed accounts to assess risk, as well as background checks on company Directors. We have also integrated AI and machine-learning software to supplement the recoveries process, which has resulted in more timely repayments and reduced defaults.
How Popular Is Smart Invest?
Since its introduction in 2016, Smart-Invest has been used by around one-fifth of all Crowd2Fund investors. This suggests that many users having the confidence in the Smart-Invest feature to deliver the returns that they desire, and the high APR also speaks for itself!
In total, over £3 million has been invested across 33,000 loan parts using the Smart-Invest tool. This AI-powered diversification has enabled investors to benefit from the gross APR of 10.27%.
The average amount invested by per Smart-Invest user per month per user is £208, equating to £2496 over a 12 month period.
“Smart-Invest is aimed at retail investors looking to maximise their return on investment and their financial goals. Our intelligent automated feature means that investors can get on with their day to day lives while the platform manages their portfolio and returns for them,” says Chris Hancock, CEO and Founder of Crowd2Fund.
“The combination of Smart-Invest and the IFISA continues to demonstrate our commitment in helping our investors grow their savings whilst supporting great British businesses.”
To register for your IFISA and start using Smart-Invest, click here.
*APR is calculated as before fees and bad debt
