P2P Lending / NFT Lending Forum

Just joined.  This is a great website.  Can consideration be given to discussion of Streetshares platform?  I'm quitting Prosper after 6 years and declining ROI.  Experience with Streetshares, six months in, is thus far positive.  Their staff is easily accessible by "chat", email or phone and unlike Prosper, quickly responds with apparent candid, straight forward information.  Their investment process is simple, including their auto investing system available with a Pro Shares account.  While modest, the fixed 5% return on Veteran Bonds is simple, effortless and seemingly worry free. I'll try to follow up at 12 months and on into the future.  I'm hoping Streetshares can provide a conservative investment with modest, but reliable growth and income potential and an option to the stock market.

Thanks for your input.  Can you explain what you believe the tax implications are with these? It would seem like such a basic thing would be described in your FAQ/site but it wasn't as far as I saw in a search.
FYI, I asked in a chat and they gave me a name and email address. He did follow up and said he would ask about putting the tax forms sent, etc on the FAQ and that the person he provide responds quickly.

Afternoon lascott,

Glad to hear you've had a similar experience with inquiries to StreetShares.  Regarding taxes, any profit will be in the form of interest income and treated the same way as net income from Prosper or Lending Club investments ... reported and payable annually.  I do not know of IRA or Roth IRAs being available through StreetShares...at least not yet.  Hope this helps.

from: 2020traders on October 17, 2017, 03:26:57 PM

Why would someone buy Veteran Bond at 5% total return when they can invest in High Yield Corporate Bond HYG, JNK with similar yield and instant liquidity and lower risk? Veteran bond is lending to very small businesses smaller than even micro-cap stocks so are potentially much more riskier than bond issuers in HYG, JNK and similar funds and should be yielding much more. The return doesn't justify the associated high risk unless I am missing something.

from: AnilG on October 17, 2017, 06:59:25 PM

from: AnilG on October 17, 2017, 06:59:25 PM

Streetshares is a TINY STARTUP with no operating history.  They have issued only a tiny number of loans so far.  There is nothing on which one could base an analysis of their underwriting skill.  In short, they are very risky.  Their most recent annual report, which reports thru June 2016, shows only 105 loans in FY2015 and 370 loans in FY2016.  (Lending club has 1.5 million so far.)  Their 2017 report is due soon.

Meanwhile, this table from the annual report shows you among other things what interest rates they charge...  From 12.9% to 27.1%

I've been invested on both StreetShares platforms for a few months and am happy with the results so far.

I consider the borrowers to be part of the "nano-cap" market, which helps to diversify my portfolio.

I realize the riskiness of these loans and the start-up nature of StreetShares, but the amount of money I've deployed is small.

I categorize these investments as "pilot trading" where I have a small amount of skin in the game to learn how they work.

I've only been on StreetShares for a few months and it's been a positive experience as far as returns go.  The only downside I've seen is that with such low loan volumes I have idle cash even with auto invest on.  You either invest in everything that comes out or keep the cash idle. 

In follow up to my original posts some months ago re: Streetshares...  As of now, I've continued to invest both in Veteran Bonds and through the Streetshares Pro platform.  The Veteran Bond account provides a conservative, but reasonable return of 5% with withdrawals restricted to a two week anniversary period each year determined by the date the account was opened.  Withdrawals are actually permitted any time of the year, but will be credited with a 4% APR return vs. 5%.  For cash that one does not want to put in more volatile markets, e.g., the stock market, this is far better than the 1.3 or 1.4 percentages paid by even the internet banks.  In eight months of investing with Streetshares I have experienced no delinquencies or charge offs with the "pro" platform.  I now have approximately 70 current loans and approximately 40 have been paid in full.  90%+ of my loans are from the most conservative category, having what Streetshares refers to as low expected loss ratios...usually 2% or less and typically providing a 12-15 percent return. I fully realize these are not yet "seasoned" loans, however, many are very short term, 6 weeks, and supported by documented gov't contracts. Resulting from the availability of these short term, contract backed loans, many borrowers are "repeaters", using Streetshares to assist on a short term basis with cash flows.  Given the "start/stop" nature of investing in these short term loans, cash does sit idle for a few days here and there, but with the use of the auto investing feature and a bit of diligence week to week this can be minimized. On the upside of the "pro" platform, the frequent turnover of short term loans and resulting cash balances allow funds to be available for withdrawal (without any fee) on a regular basis, providing some level of liquidity without penalty.  I've gradually added to both platforms over eight months in 2017. I'll be tracking returns over the full year of 2018 and will try to post occasionally...if anyone is interested .  I do believe, at this point, Streetshares can significantly outperform my Prosper investment which has steadily declined to the 6% range with substantially less monitoring and effort in reinvestment of funds (never was a fan of Prosper's auto invest feature).  Streetshares has continued to be consistently prompt in answering any questions submitted through either their live chat feature or email.  This customer service aspect of their business remains in the excellent category for me.  Prosper's customer service and responsive was, in my experience, terrible.  Last, I read a few posts stating that Streetshares had generated only a few hundred loans and was a tiny operation, etc.  I believe, just by viewing the number and size of loans being processed through the website, that it has considerably more business than those characterizations.  I feel comfortable with using Streetshares to diversify my investments, particularly in light the stock market's predicted lackluster future.  I trust our country's small business and Veteran community more than do I large corporations.  Hope to hear from others with their thoughts.  Best wishes for a happy and successful new year.

 

from: 2020traders on December 29, 2017, 02:27:15 PM

Hi folks,

StreetShares announced this morning (January 24, 3018) that we have completed our Series B funding round, raising $23 million in fresh equity capital.

http://blog.streetshares.com/streetshares-secures-23-million-equity-funding-to-scale-award-winning-fintech-platform-for-the-military-and-veteran-market

Best regards,
Peter Somerville

Director of Investor Relations
StreetShares

What is the current burn rate at StreetShares?

from: Half Right on January 25, 2018, 01:18:13 PM

So...a lot has not happened over the last four or five months with regard to opportunities for Pro Investors at Streetshares.  By following the investment opportunities that do post on the website it is apparent a few Pro Investors are still able to participate in new loans on a limited  basis.  However, it is also apparent that most of us who supported Streetshares' efforts to fund loans for Veteran business in the past are not excluded.  Very little information has been shared by the company in this regard.  Private inquiries result in somewhat vague responses regarding future plans for the Pro Investor platform.  Announcements are alluded to, but  then deferred for one reason or another.  This detracts from the original freshness and seeming transparency I experienced earlier on.  Signs of growth no doubt, however, Streetshares would likely do well to pay attention to that part of its original investor base that supported operations in good faith and with their own hard earned dollars.  I'm hopeful this post will reach some of the many investors who regularly invested and reinvested in the Pro Investor problem, but have, at least for now, been kicked to the curb.  In particular, it would be good and I feel, appropriate, to hear from Peter Renton who has still been able to engage in new, ongoing loans as a Pro Investor.  Thanks all.

2020traders, I reached out to the CEO of Streetshares and questioned him on your post here. This is what he said:
"We put our 5% Veteran Business Bond investor money to work first, followed by StreetShares Pro investor money on a FIFO (e.g., "oldest-accounts-fill-first basis"). Pro investors who have been with us for awhile get first dibs."

I have been with Streetshares almost since the beginning which is why I expect I am able to stay pretty much fully invested.

Thank you Peter for your information re: why some Pro Investors are being excluded from ongoing investment opportunities.  Can't say I'm good with it, but "it is what it is".  Would have preferred the company to have been forthcoming with their decisions and changes...not a strong suit of this otherwise apparently good venture.

I was glad to see on RetireBeforeDad.com, the up to date write up which further illuminates some of Streetshares planned changes to platform such as auto reinvestment of earned interest back into their bond accounts ... those currently paying 5%.  Again, it would be good if Streetshares put this kind of information out to its customers/investors in a timely fashion vs. relying on third party bloggers and websites.

Last question/comment for now....do not understand why 2018 1099s are not available on the website as they were in 2017.  Did not receive these forms by U.S.P.S. either.  Per my CPA, they should have been distributed by 02/15/2019 for tax year 2018.  Any thoughts?  Did some investors get theirs and if so, in what form?  Hoping this company can start capitalizing on some of the missed opportunities that have occurred in connection with communication and building relationships with their customers/investors.

I put money into StreetShares almost 3 years ago and pulled the money back out almost immediately when I saw obvious and glaring red flags. Caveat Emptor.

Hello Peter,

Just wondering where your thoughts are on Streetshares....?  I realize that is a very open ended question, but it's intentional.  Interested in knowing your sentiments regarding ongoing investment with this company.

Thanks for your diligence.