Assetz Capital to launch Innovative Finance ISA

Assetz Capital is launching an ISA following the Chancellor’s confirmation that peer-to-peer (P2P) lending will be part of the Innovation Finance ISA.

The P2P lending platform will launch the wrapper in April 2016, saying it carries numerous benefits for investors.

Stuart Law, CEO at Assetz Capital, also said he supported the government’s decision to include P2P loans in the Innovation Finance ISA but exclude P2P equity investment opportunities.

Stuart said: “Peer-to-peer lending has proven to be relatively capital secure since its inception where overall returns across the industry have been positive and healthy every year to date.

“The same cannot necessarily be said for more volatile stocks and shares ISAs with regular annual losses and also cash ISAs with low levels of interest.

“Furthermore, many peer-to-peer equity investments are in startups that have a high incidence of failure, and it was right in our view to exclude them for now and protect the ISA brand.”

Since its inception in 2013, Assetz Capital has lent more than £80m of private investor money and is now seeing £100m worth of loan applications a month.

In September, it announced the launch of The Great British Business Account, which only invests in UK SMEs.