(Newswire.net — May 8, 2020) — Times are troubling right now for many individuals and organizations across the globe as they struggle with the pandemic of COVID-19. As far as investments go, it can be worrying for anyone who has any money tied up into something currently.
For P2P investments, they’re great for when the economy is growing, but in times like these, you might find high default rates occurring, amongst other issues.
However, as uncertain as these times are, being on top of your investments, following the latest news and keeping an eye on your p2p investment can help. Here is how to protect your P2P investments during a crisis.
Follow News
A good way to keep an eye on your investments is to follow the news. Some might not be accurate, so be sure to look at reputable sources that are likely to be more on the mark when it comes to your P2P investment.
You can keep up to date with whatever platform that you might use when it comes to your peer to peer investing.
You’ve also got the use of social media to get the viewpoint of others who might be investing in the same areas that you are and can give you some guidance on what’s best to do.
It is important to note that some alternative P2P lending platforms have shut down their operations or paused it until the pandemic is over. It’s good to keep in touch with your own platform or whatever service you may have used to check where they stand.
It’s good to try and figure out from the information you have, what might be impacted when it comes to your portfolio. For example, will real estate prices go down? Will this impact your real estate P2P lending portfolio? Websites like P2P Empire inform you about the latest news around most popular P2P lending platforms.
The fear of losing money is a hard pill for any investor to swallow, and for many, it results in them making impulsive decisions that could ultimately decrease the returns of their investment. That’s something you don’t want to happen, so try to stay in touch with what experts are saying and what is being shared on the internet and in the press.
Make Regular Withdrawals
It’s good to test the functionality of your platform that you use in order to make sure everything is working as normal. Some platforms might be limiting certain features due to the pandemic, and so it’s important to know which ones these are and how they might affect your use of the lending platform.
The restrictions are put in place to help investors to stop making rash decisions when it comes to their money. A regular withdrawal is normal to do so but take scope of your assets and why you invested in the first place. Don’t let your heart make the decisions you take.
Know Your Legal Rights
Knowing your legal rights is an important part of P2P lending platforms. Platforms can tend to amend their terms and conditions to a way that suits them. That means you should be acknowledging and being made aware of when these changes are made and how the platform itself is protecting your investments.
If it’s a change that’s helping your investment then great, but if you do not like the changes that have been made, then you can always attempt to exit your investment. Be sure to keep yourself clued up with your rights as an investor and if anything does smell off, then explore it and remove any investment that you no longer feel happy about.
Invest In Secured Assets
With any of your assets, you want them to be as secure as possible, and so you should be investing in loans that are backed by a first-rank mortgage. Personal loans can often be unsecured, and that increases the risk of default as we go through an economic downturn.
With many P2P lending platforms, they offer a buyback guarantee, but it’s important not to rely on these promises as any investment is never completely risk-free.
Just because they say it’s a guarantee, does not mean that you’ll get your money back. You are often investing in unsecured loans, and that in itself is what makes it risky for you as an investor.
Follow National News
When investing in loans from specific countries, it’s important to be aware of the moratorium that applies to borrowers. This means that a borrower can legally pause the repayments of their loans, which has an impact on your returns.
No one wants that to happen, but in economic times like these, it’s more than likely to happen for some people. It’s important therefore, to be following any national news to follow how borrowers are coping and the overall economic climate of the country in which your loans are invested in. By knowing this information, you can make predictions and adaptations to your investments.
Conclusion
With all being said, what you can take away from this as a P2P investor, is that it’s important to be on top of things at all times. P2P lending should not be considered as a passive investment strategy during a crisis.
You should be monitoring the performance of your portfolio regardless of a pandemic happening or not. Being aware of how your portfolio is doing should be a priority in order to spot any certain negative trends at the right time. You can then make adjustments to your strategy in order to keep your investment as safe as possible.
Whether you choose to exit your investment early, stop any reinvestments or decide to trade on the secondary market in order to get better returns. It’s an uncertain time for everyone, and that can mean even more uncertain times when it comes to your P2P investments.
The main important point to take away from this is to think wisely. Don’t rush into a decision that might end up affecting the return you can make on an investment. Keep up with local, national and global news, check in with your P2P platform and know your legal rights.