Marketlend Academy: 2019 Outlook – The big challenges for 2019
2019 looks like another good year for Marketlend, which is great news for you. A strong year for Marketlend means even more flexible finance for SMEs to grow, and more great opportunities for investors.
Watch Marketlend CEO Leo Tyndall’s 2019 outlook, what he’s excited about, and what he sees as the biggest challenges in the year ahead. Or, read the transcript below.
Video Transcript:
We’re looking at quite a very positive year ahead. We’ve recently engaged two new sales team who are ex American Express and we’ve seen a significant pickup in our origination volumes in the last year. So we see that in the last month, in November, we did 5.2 million and we see that we’re possibly looking at similar numbers or even doubling those numbers going forward.
With the avalanche of these new products we’ve brought out, essentially UnLock as well as GreenLend, we see a bit of energy there coming back from an investor base as well as from the borrower base. And so what we see is from that side, a very exciting year. From the risk side we have added additional measures to protect our position, or the investor’s position, and so where we see with that is that we see a continued good performance from the book and also seeing that our clients are actually gonna grow with it.
As far as the economy goes, there are some stresses that we are cognisant of and concerned about, especially the construction industry as well as the possible retail industry as the continual issue with the fact of the online businesses growing so well and the retail business, sort of, lease holds being a bit of a struggle. And so what we are focusing is on making sure that we try to diversify away from that as much as possible, or at least when we see those opportunities we ensure that we actually have additional protections for the underlying investors.
Marketlend Academy: Tips to pay off business debt
While some debt is necessary to fund a business, if you’ve ever found yourself turning to a personal credit card to stay afloat… it’s time to stop for a moment and consider your options.
Here’s a sobering statistic: Last year, a survey of 1,200 Australian SMEs showed about two thirds of small business owners rely on credit card debt to maintain cash flow in their business. Just two years earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found only a third of SMEs would use credit cards to maintain cash flow.
That means the number of businesses turning to credit cards to keep their businesses afloat has doubled in two years.
While there’s a certain convenience to using the credit card, the ensuing interest rates can put a business under even more financial pressure. Instead, here are a few tips to smooth out cash flow, and start to pay off business debt in your firm.
- Are your costs too high?
Reevaluate your regular expenses. Are you paying too much for supplies or materials? Research new suppliers and see if you can get similar materials elsewhere for less.
You could also reduce your office space and sell off equipment you don’t need or no longer use, or look into reducing your energy consumption.
This will result in savings you can put toward reducing your debt, or for maintaining cash flow in lieu of entering into even more debt.
- Can you buy now, pay later?
When looking at supplies and materials, have you considered services like Marketlend UnLock? Launched late last year, UnLock is similar to consumer ‘buy now, pay later’ models like Afterpay, except it is designed for small businesses.
In effect, Marketlend pays the supplier upfront for the materials, then gives your SME extended credit terms to pay the amount back – typically 90 days instead of the usual 30-day time frame.
This longer credit term allows businesses more time to repay, thereby smoothing out cash flow.
- Can you prioritise paying off your debt?
If you’re going to owe money, then you should know how much you owe and to whom. If you’re accumulating so much debt that it’s becoming challenging to keep track of what payments you must make every month, it’s time to take stock of your debt in order to prioritise your payments. Generally, when looking at loans it’s best to pay off those with the highest interest rate first.
Also consider consolidating loans if possible. Not only are consolidated loans easier to manage, as there are less people to pay, but you can typically find a lower interest rate – depending on the circumstances.
Start Today
This is by no means an exhaustive list, butit’s the three best places to start. If the debt your business carries is slowing you down, the best thing to do is take steps to pay it down today. Even if those steps are small at first, they’ll compound into giant leaps over time.
Marketlend Academy: SMEs are the true north for the 2019 election
Each new year brings a chance to make changes for the better, but with a federal election just months away, this year is one of the more unpredictable. One thing is certain: SMEs will play a key role in the development of the major parties’ business policy, and for the resulting direction of the economy.
With an early budget, the election will probably be held in May, and at this stage it’s not likely to be a tight race. A December Newspoll found 55 per cent believe Labor will win, while just 24 per cent back the government for re-election. But even strong polling guarantees nothing, so both parties will be desperate for support, and every coherent group of voters will be up for grabs. SMEs are high on the list, representing everything from Mum and Dad operations to industry leading firms.
That’s a mixed blessing. While both parties courting the sector should lead to progressive policies that benefit both business and the economy, the promise of wholesale change can increase uncertainty. A closer than expected election could also result in political uncertainty, which would cause additional anxiety for the economy as a whole. That could have a pronounced impact on SMEs, especially if the availability of capital is affected.
For SMEs to enjoy smooth sailing after the election, both major parties need to be clear on what their policies are, and why they believe in them. The parties must prove they’re serious about supporting Australian business, with the intent to follow through on their promises regardless of the political landscape post-election. A promise not kept does more harm than good.
More importantly, policies that support SMEs and the overall economy must be sold to the public. That’s the job of politicians and the business community.
SMEs are the lifeblood of the Australian economy, and what’s good for SMEs tends to be good for everyone, especially during a domestic housing downturn and an unpredictable global political climate.
By helping the Australian public understand the importance of strong SMEs, the political and policy incentives of politicians become aligned. With everyone paddling in the same direction, it’s much more likely we’ll find a path around those dangerous waters.
Marketlend – New Theme Picture
Marketlend new theme picture
We have also have established our new theme picture, meaning new kids shining light on a stagnant banking industry
Trust Documents executed by Trustee, Marketlend, Tyndall Capital and Jardine Lloyd Thompson
In a first for the peer to peer industry, Marketlend from inception is operating a securitisation trust structure to offer investors the most secure and protected funding opportunity available.
Master Trust Deed, Security Trust Deed, Sale and Origination Deed, and Back Up Servicer Deed were executed on 24 December 2014.
AET, a wholly owned subsidiary of IOOF, who manages approx. 123 Billion of wealth funds in Australia was appointed the Trustee, and Security Trustee.
Jardine Lloyd Thompson, listed on the UK stock exchange will perform the role of back up servicer.
“We have structured our lending platform with a solid foundation, that will be built to last. From the mom and dad investor to the large financial institutional investors, all investors are protected and purchase a secured bond where the underlying asset is a loan in the trust or part thereof if the investor wishes. These notes will have the traditional trading aspects to them, and whilst liquidity take a while to build, the notes are tradable instruments in the capital markets.” Leo Tyndall, Founder and CEO.
An interview with Marketlend CEO – Leo Tyndall
Interview with Marketlend CEO – Click here to listen
Marketlend is a new Australian lending platform founded and led by Leo Tyndall.
Launched in the same week that the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) of Australia released its “blueprint” for the Australian financial system for the next ten years, this new platform shows how innovation in financial products is global.
We were lucky enough to get a chance to speak to Leo in the week of his launch.
Leo provides us with an interesting insight as to how Marketlend is a necessary addition to the Australian business finance marketplace and what makes its offer so distinctive.
The FSI report is generally encouraging towards crowdfunding and new and novel approaches to finance and we can be sure that where Leo’s team lead others will certainly follow.
You can stream the interview from here, our Podbean account or download it for later listening
Marketlend in the Press
Banking Day article
Marketlend jostles in P2P sector
12 December 2014 7:02am
Marketlend, another P2P style lender, is making its debut in the Australian market.
Leo Tyndall, a former head of capital markets in Asia for UniCredit, is the founder and CEO. Paul Roffey, a former JP Morgan and NAB banker, is the second director.
Marketlend is a subsidiary of Tyndall Capital Pty which holds the Australian Financial Services Licence.
Business loans (especially working capital, including a line of credit linked to invoices) are the initial target product with personal loans to come.
Like others in the segment, Marketlend is not really a peer to peer lender as its investment is confined to a well-heeled few and professional investors. However, there is a bidding platform to match investments with loan requests.
Retail investors may be able to join later.
One difference in the Marketlend model is a market for secondary trading in investments in loans.
ThinCats is another recent entrant in this niche, while RateSetter and SocietyOne have more of a consumer loans focus.
Marketlend’s marketplace lending platform development awarded to peer-to-peer specialists Rebuilding Society.com Ltd.
On September 15, 2014, after three months of due diligence, Marketlend awarded Rebuilding Society.Com Limited the development and hosting of Marketlend’s advanced marketplace lending platform.
The rebuildingsociety.com platform is an enterprise class peer-to-peer/crowdfunding technology solution, which uses industry proven technology. It already powers rebuildingsociety.com and other leading peer-to-peer and crowdfunding companies.
The platform is based on a popular open source content management system, a fantastic tool for maintaining a website. It is so popular that it’s currently estimated to power around 18% of the web.
The platform incorporates a variety of advanced features that make it easy and efficient to process the transactions involved in peer-to-peer lending. This includes uploading funds to the platform, placing bids on loan auctions, completing loans, calculating interest and assigning repayments to the correct lenders.
The open source technology also means Marketlend can modify things to integrate with chosen plugins specific to client wishes and operational needs.