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

What are the key risks?

You could lose all the money you invest

Advertised rates of return aren’t guaranteed. This is not a savings account. If the issuer does not pay you back as agreed, you could earn less money than expected or nothing at all. A higher rate of return means a higher risk of losing your money. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong

Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. 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 firm FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.

You are unlikely to get your money back quickly

LendCart investments are illiquid and you need to be prepared to hold this investment for the full term.

We do operate a Bulletin Board where you can post your investment for sale, but there is no guarantee of a buyer. LendCart charge a fee for this service. Before you invest, you should consider if you will need access to those funds should your circumstances change.

This is a complex investment

This investment includes loans made to property developers. Developers could misuse the invested funds without LendCart’s knowledge, thereby increasing the risk of default. Developers may also become unable to complete the scheduled work on time, or at all, for financial or other reasons.

This makes it difficult to predict how risky the investment is, but it will most likely be high.

You may wish to get financial advice before deciding to invest.

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.

If you are interested in hearing more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.