Risk Summary

Estimated reading time: 2 min

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

1. You could lose the money you invest

  • Many peer-to-peer (P2P) loans are made to borrowers who can’t borrow money from traditional lenders such as banks. These borrowers have a higher risk of not paying you back.

  • Advertised rates of return aren’t guaranteed. If a borrower doesn’t pay you back as agreed, you could earn less money than expected. A higher advertised rate of return means a higher risk of losing your money.

  • These investments can be held in an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA). An IFISA does not reduce the risk of the investment or protect you from losses, so you can still lose all your money. It only means that any potential gains from your investment will be tax free.

2. You are unlikely to get your money back quickly

  • Some P2P loans last for several years. You should be prepared to wait for your money to be returned even if the borrower repays on time.

  • Some platforms may give you the opportunity to sell your investment early through a ‘secondary market’, but there is no guarantee you will be able to find someone willing to buy.

  • Even if your agreement is advertised as affording early access to your money, you will only get your money early if someone else wants to buy your loan(s). If no one wants to buy, it could take longer to get your money back.

3. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

  • Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.

  • A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.

4. The P2P platform could fail

  • If the platform fails, it may be impossible for you to collect money on your loan. It could take years to get your money back, or you may not get it back at all. Even if the platform has plans in place to prevent this, they may not work in a disorderly failure.

5. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong

  • The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover investments in P2P loans. You may be able to claim if you received regulated advice to invest in P2P, and the adviser has since failed. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.

  • Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated platform, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here. For further information about peer-to-peer lending (loan-based crowdfunding), visit the FCA’s website here.

The People Behind BLEND

BLEND is founded on the belief that development finance needs a new type of lender – one that isn't slowed down by the same barriers as traditional lenders and can genuinely put developers first. By bringing together our expertise in property, finance and technology, we have created a team that is rethinking how development finance should be done.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

YANN MURCIANO

CEO

Yann was previously global head of base metals trading at Morgan Stanley in London. Before that, he was an FX Option Trader at ABN Amro in Chicago. He holds a BA in Mathematics & Economics, an MSc in Banking, Finance & Insurance, and an MA in International Economics & Finance. Yann has won several awards and was shortlisted as Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2021 Property Week Awards. In his free time Yann loves to play tennis and to spend time with his family – he is a father to two sets of twins!

JARED TAUSZ

COO

Prior to joining Blend in 2021, Jared spent five years working for the venture capital team at LGT (€200bn+ AUM) investing in high-growth European technology businesses. He has invested in some of Europe’s fastest growing companies. Jared originally qualified as a lawyer with Allen & Overy LLP and spent time working with Goldman Sachs' investment banking and fixed income divisions. He holds two degrees, having originally graduated from Durham University.

Roxana Mohammadian-Molina

CSO

Roxana has been with Blend since the business was launched in 2018. She previously spent a decade working in investment banking, first working within the commodities research team at Barclays and later in the commodities trading team at Morgan Stanley. She is experienced in property refurbishments and investments and runs a private family investment portfolio. Roxana holds an MSc in Financial Economics & Econometrics, a BSc in Quantitative Economics and is very proud of her Kinder toy collection.

LENDING TEAM

David Alcock

Managing Director

David has over 20 years of experience in UK residential, mixed-use development and finance. David joined Blend in 2022 after spending over eight years as Managing Director and a founding member of the Development Finance team at Hampshire Trust Bank. He is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and has more than 20 years of experience in residential, mixed-use development and finance. David started his career working in a number of property advisory roles for firms including JLL and Allsop.

David Mill

Lending Director

David is a Lending Director who joined Blend in 2023, bringing with him over 30 years of banking experience. Out of those 30 years, 25 have been dedicated to development finance, allowing him to establish relationships with a wide and varied range of developers during his tenure at high street banks and specialist finance providers. Based in London, David's coverage extends across London, the East of England, and the South East. In his spare time, he relaxes with his wife and two children and enjoys watching rugby and some football. He also enjoys skiing when there's snow.

Chris Mason

Lending Director

Chris is Blend’s lending director based in Cambridgeshire and covering our mid country lending. Chris joined Blend in 2022 and is Cambridgeshire based covering our mid-country lending operations. A seasoned property and finance expert, Chris has over 40 years of experience in banking and finance across both high street (Barclays, RBS) and specialist finance providers (Handelsbanken, Assetz). His most recent position was as relationship director at Assetz Capital where he focused on providing specialist development finance to residential and commercial schemes across the UK.


Philip Anderson

Lending Manager

Philip joined Blend in 2022 and is based in Belfast covering our Northern Ireland lending operations. Prior to joining Blend, Philip was a relationship manager in the corporate banking property team at Allied Irish Bank and before that he spent 3 years as a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Philip is a member of the of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and holds a BSc in Business with Accounting from Ulster University. Philip is a keen sailor and races in Belfast Lough and Strangford Lough.

Claire McGirr

Head of Portfolio Management

Claire joined Blend in 2022 from Hampshire Trust Bank where she was Head of Portfolio Management within the development finance team for 5 years.  She has over 20 years Banking experience working primarily in UK residential development finance and asset recovery both in the UK and overseas.   In her spare time she enjoys spending time watching the Woman's Super League and the Lionesses.

Chris Hope

Senior Portfolio Asset Manager

Prior to joining Blend in 2022, Chris was a senior portfolio manager in the real estate development finance team at Propfin. He is a professionally qualified credit risk manager with over 30 years of experience within the Financial Services Industry, having spent 15 years as a credit risk manager at Investec. Chris specialises in credit risk analysis and portfolio management and has significant asset recovery experience across real estate finance. During downtime Chris enjoys watching football, rugby and F1.

Duncan Armstrong

Portfolio Asset Manager

Duncan joined Blend in 2022 after spending the last 4 years at Secure Trust Bank where he was the Credit Operations Manager within the Real Estate Finance Team. Duncan has over 25 years experience in Banking working within the SME market gaining sector specialisms, primarily property development and Real Estate Finance within Credit Risk over the last 10 years. In his younger years previous to having children Duncan has scuba dived and swam with sharks in Thailand. 

Operations

Melissa Turnbull

Operations Analyst

Melissa is a highly experienced operational client risk manager with an impressive track record working in the investment banking industry. Prior to joining Blend in 2022, she spent almost 8 years at Goldman Sachs in the prime brokerage operations department as a client relationship/risk manager. She started her career in London and was seconded to New York in 2010. Melissa holds an MSc in Economics & Management from Aberdeen University and is a qualified hairdresser.

Rosie Francis

Head of Compliance

Rosie is a senior compliance expert with over a decade of experience at FTSE 250 companies. Rosie has over 10 years’ experience in financial services compliance. Prior to joining Blend in 2021, she was a compliance manager at IG Group, a FTSE 250 company and global leader in online trading and investments. Prior to this she was an adjudicator at the Financial Ombudsman Service. Rosie holds a Diploma in Financial Crime Prevention, a Level 3 Certificate in Investments, and a BSc in Psychology from Brunel University.

BOARD

Cyrus Ardalan

Chairman of the Board

Cyrus Ardalan is currently Chairman of LXI REIT PLC, a FTSE 250 closed-end real estate investment company, Board member of CEPI, a Trustee of the Charities Aid Foundation Chairing its financial services subsidiary CFSL and Chairman of BLEND. He has also been Chairman of OakNorth Bank and Chairman of Citigroup Global Markets Limited and a Senior Adviser to Alvarez and Marsal.

Michael Lévy

Board Member

Michael is an investor with over 30 years of experience in financial services. He managed FX derivatives portfolios for major European banks (SocGen, Commerzbank, Barclays). He co-founded SGAM Alternative Investments Hedge Funds Group, where he directly oversaw +700M€ AUM. He was also a founding partner at 360 Assets Managers. In the last ten years, he has also been working with several Fintechs as an investor, advisor or board member.

Nico Paraskevas

Board Observer

Senior Executive in the metals and mining industry with experience in investment banking and private equity. Previously Executive Head of Copper and Cobalt marketing at London-listed miner/trader Glencore. Qualified Chartered Accountant (South African Institute).