Property investment platform LendInvest has launched first retail bond on the Order Book for Retail Bonds.
LendInvest is also the first UK company on ELITE, LSEG’s business support and capital raising programme, to access the debt capital markets to support its growth. ELITE offers the UK’s most exciting and ambitious private companies a full programme to help them grow, including education, business support and access to Europe’s financial and advisory community.
LendInvest was admitted to ELITE in April 2016 and has since grown rapidly. ELITE’s growing community now includes more than 600 companies in 25 countries across 36 sectors, generating €50 billion in combined revenues and accounting for over 215,000 jobs across Europe and beyond.
London Stock Exchange Group is committed to supporting increased private investor participation in the financial markets. The demand for LendInvest’s retail bond highlights private investor appetite for retail-sized bonds in the UK. London Stock Exchange launched ORB in 2010 to open up the corporate debt market to private investors and provide companies with an alternative source of funding and today counts 60 retail bonds from 37 different issuers.
Pietro Poletto, LSEG’s Head of Fixed Income Markets said:
Welcoming the UK’s first and largest online market place platform for property lending and investing, LendInvest, to trading on our Order Book for Retail Bonds is a significant milestone for the company and London Stock Exchange Group. The successful listing reinforces LSEG’s position as a leading retail bond trading venue in Europe and the success of our ELITE programme in supporting companies to access a range of funding options. ORB and ELITE are just two of our innovations that help support fast-growing companies tap into retail liquidity pools and access long-term patient capital.
Christian Faes, LendInvest CEO and Co-Founder said:
The retail bond offers compelling returns and access to a much sought after asset class in a world of low interest rates.
As we continue to scale the business, we’re increasingly looking to diversify our funding model and expand our capacity to lend to underserved borrowers, as well as to create new entry points to an attractive asset class that suits a broader range of investors seeking competitive risk-adjusted returns.