Manchester-based specialist lending firm Somo Bridging has achieved the highest possible rating from 4thWay – an independent ratings agency for the alternative lending market.
The recognition followed a lengthy and robust assessment of people, data and inner workings.
A 4thWay accolade is a key indicator of safety and success. 4thWay helps investors compare the many risks, rewards and aspects of lending.
The lending research agency confirmed that over the past nine years lenders had lost no money they had put into loans, crediting Somo’s bad-debt recovery processes as part of the success.
Head of research at 4thWay, Neil Faulkner said the lengths Somo goes to reduce risks when assessing borrowers, are beyond what he was seeing in bridge lending.
About Somo’s lending processes, 4thWay added they are ‘high quality, professional and appropriate for these kinds of loans’. It continues ‘Its processes centre around looking for a margin of safety in worst-case scenarios and – very important for this kind of lending – a strong and realistic exit strategy for repaying the loan’.
Commenting on Somo’s key people, the 4thWay review reported that ‘Somo has proven itself over many years, and my assessment is that this family business has all of the relevant skills and experience we’d expect to see in property lending and bad-debt recovery. It also has complementary skills, such as relevant legal backgrounds.’
Firms that receive 4thWay’s 3/3 PLUS Rating, as Somo did, are ‘expected to make money through a severe recession and major property crash.’
Somo is currently offering annual returns of up to 13% p.a.
Neil added: “Most online lending platforms either avoid or pull out of our testing due-diligence process, but Somo has opened a level of access that really enables us to assess it with a high level of confidence. The future looks very good for its investors.”
Somo’s founder and CEO, Louis Alexander (pictured) said: “The investment in our people and processes has certainly paid off and we’re delighted 4thWay considers us an ‘exceptional calculated risk-reward balance’.
“We’ve always had confidence in our lending – our track record in terms of interest rates, bad debts and margin of safety is second to none – but I hope investors will be further reassured now we’ve received the highest rating possible from 4thWay. It is testament to the hard work we’ve put in over the years to give our investors the best possible returns while mitigating risk.
“We’ve approved thousands of loans since our inception and working towards safer and more secure investing is always our priority. It’s just one of the reasons why we have zero capital losses to date.”
Somo recently became a patron lender of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB), which is the UK’s largest independent trade body for commercial finance brokers.
