As a hot spot in the field of Internet finance, P2P (Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform) risk events keep erupting, which makes many investors feel uneasy. A few days ago, the policy of fund deposit and management of online lending institutions, which has received much attention, finally landed. The China Banking Regulatory Commission issued a document requiring online lending institutions to separate their own funds from depository funds, accounting separately, preventing the risk of misappropriation of online lending funds, and safely keeping customer transaction settlement funds. So, what is the risk of online lending platform? What "traps" should investors pay attention to?
Interest rates are trending downward, and P2P investors are more cautious.
"These platforms looked good a moment ago, and I don't know what will happen next. The money is there, and my heart is not practical. "
Liu Liying, an employee of a public relations company in Beijing, is a frequent visitor to the P2P online lending platform. When P2P just emerged, she began to pay attention to it and tried water on some platforms. By the time the 20 15 online loan market was the hottest, she had invested in at least 10 platforms. Recently, she obviously felt that all P2P platforms were cooling down. "During the P2P boom, the average yield of the industry was about 10%, and now the yield is generally down. I invested in a platform years ago, counting the extra gifts given during the Spring Festival, and the total yield is around 7%. "
By cooling down, we mean not only that the return on investment of the platform is declining, but also that all platforms seem to be "quiet", no longer playing promotional cards and sending various gifts as before. Liu Liying once invested in a platform for three months, and he could get an Apple mobile phone for free with an investment of 800,000 yuan, but now he rarely gives such gifts. Years ago, she "wandered" around several familiar platforms, and didn't see any gift-giving activities, and the promotion efforts were much smaller than before.
As a senior P2P investor, Liu Liying has its own criteria for choosing a platform. "You can't choose a platform with high yield. The borrower should not only pay the investor's income, but also pay the service fee charged by the platform. If the interest rate is too high, which industry's rate of return can cover this financing cost? It feels like taking money and running away at any time. "
According to the monthly report released by Online Loan Home and Yingcan Consulting, in February this year, the comprehensive rate of return of online loan industry was 9.5 1%, down by 235 basis points year-on-year, and the mainstream comprehensive rate of return was still between 8%- 12%, with platforms accounting for 53. 16%.
"With the continuous rectification of the online lending industry, the P2P online lending platform has gradually improved in terms of information disclosure, risk control measures and product innovation, attracting some new investors to join, but the number of borrowers has declined slightly, and the supply of funds is greater than demand, which has promoted the comprehensive rate of return of the online lending industry. At the end of 20 16, the comprehensive rate of return of online lending industry has fallen below 10%. In the future, the industry will gradually move towards standardization. After the market competition is relatively sufficient, the interest rate level will decline, but the decline will not be too great. " Shi, co-founder of the online loan home, said.
Although the rate of return has declined, compared with other investment methods, the current P2P online lending platform still has certain advantages. For example, the yield of 1 year bank wealth management products is only 5%, and the yield of P2P platform is not much higher, but the term is shorter, and 1-3 months can be redeemed. Choosing short-term products is also a way for many investors to avoid risks, and they can get the proceeds and leave.
The platform turmoil has continued, and many investors have begun to "evacuate".
Wang Ning, a clerk of an Internet company, has invested several times in several top platforms, but since the end of last year, she has withdrawn her funds. "These platforms look good at the moment. I don't know what will happen in the next second, and the interest rate is not high. It is better to deposit money in the bank in a down-to-earth manner, which is more worry-free. Now the government is reorganizing these Internet financial platforms, and then we will take a look after the reorganization. " Wang Ning's idea represents the mentality of many investors.
The online loan industry began to shuffle, and the problem platform surfaced.
"The proportion of closed platforms reached 35.7%, major risk events increased, and platforms such as 808 credit and e-speed loan had accidents one after another."
With the intensive release of regulatory policies, many online lending platforms have become "low-key". Some online lending platforms admit that they can't see the direction of policies and industries now, so they simply "nest" and wait and see. The data shows that in February this year, the transaction volume of P2P online lending industry was 20434 1 billion yuan, down 7.53% from the previous month, and the transaction volume has been declining for two consecutive months.
Under the pressure of supervision, the problem platform gradually surfaced, and the risks accumulated in the early stage of the industry began to break out. According to the report released by Zero One Finance, there are as many new problem platforms as 1 106 in 20 16 years. Risk events mainly show two obvious characteristics: first, the proportion of closed platforms is still large, accounting for 35.7%; Second, major risk events have increased, such as 808 credit, e-speed loan, Sida investment and Guocheng Finance.
"There are four major risks in the P2P online lending industry. The first is the moral hazard of platform fraud. Secondly, liquidity risk. If a large number of investment users withdraw cash, it is likely that the fund pool operated by some platforms will be drained. There are also policy risks and credit risks brought by borrowers' non-repayment. Xie Qun, CEO of Building Block, said.
How can we avoid "stepping on thunder" and avoid the risk platform? Insiders pointed out that the previous policy has clarified the information intermediary nature of the online lending platform, and the standardized P2P online lending platform does not absorb any deposits or participate in the peer market. When screening, we can look at several important criteria, such as registered capital, platform background and senior management team. It also depends on the authenticity of the platform products and targets, and judges whether it has the big data risk control capability on the pure line, whether it touches the 12 red line of online loan supervision, that is, whether it is self-contained, whether a fund pool is set up, and whether the platform itself provides guarantee.
"At present, ordinary investors still lack basic financial common sense and risk management ability, and the investment is not rational enough. Through this special rectification of internet finance, those platforms that can stand the test will attract more investors; And poorly managed platforms will also be washed away by big waves and quit the industry. This change is a rare investment education opportunity for investors, helping investors to change their mentality of blindly pursuing high returns and establish a long-term investment philosophy. " Huang Zhen, director of the Institute of Financial Law of the Central University of Finance and Economics, said.
Bank funds custody, investment is not "safe"
"The P2P platform should sell the right products to the right people, instead of selling inappropriate products to investors who have no risk tolerance."
After the special rectification, the supervision has not been relaxed. Xiamen, Guangdong, Shanghai and other places have successively issued interim measures for the registration and management of online loans, and the policy of fund deposit and management of online lending institutions that have received much attention has also "fallen off the boots".
Before the introduction of the depository policy, the money invested by investors in the platform directly went into the corporate account and mixed with the company's own funds. Every time they chose to invest in a specific project, investors actually didn't know whether the money had entered the borrower's account. Many problem platforms use this to play their own tricks, setting false borrowing targets, saying that investors' money is lent to a certain enterprise or individual, but it is actually in the platform's own pocket and has not been invested in specific projects. For example, this is the case with the Kuailu Group and the "China-Shaanxi Department".
After the introduction of the depository policy, each investor will have his own exclusive account in the bank, and the destination of each fund will be confirmed and authorized by himself, similar to the transfer of funds in the stock account. Banks and online lending platforms will also check investors' accounts every day to ensure that every fund is traceable. This is equivalent to the bank insuring investors' funds and preventing the risk of misappropriation of funds.
"Depository has always been regarded as the' knot of life and death' in the online lending industry and is the fundamental safety measure for investors." Yang Dong, director of the Research Center for Financial Technology and Internet Security of Renmin University of China, said that after the introduction of the deposit and management policy of online lending funds, customer funds and platform accounts were completely separated, which prevented online lending institutions from touching and controlling user funds in the whole business process and prevented online lending institutions from "running away". According to statistics, only 4% of the platforms have completed the fund depository business. "At the end of the transition period on August 24 this year, there may be a major reshuffle in the industry." Yang Dong said.
Does the online lending platform deposit funds, which means there is no risk? Actually, it is not.
Hu Honghui, president of Paipai Loan, specially reminded investors that depository only makes the transaction process more transparent. Depository banks are not responsible for transactions, but only supervise whether the information flow and capital flow are consistent, and whether the accounts of banks and online lending institutions are consistent. As for whether the platform is true or not, the bank does not ask. Whether the information of the online lending institution itself is true and reliable still requires investors to carefully judge the online lending institution and the project itself.
"Selling the right products to the right people" also applies to the online loan industry. Huang Zhen suggested that the education and rights protection of investors should be actively strengthened, especially the proper management of investors, and inappropriate products should not be sold to investors who have no risk tolerance.
Some platforms have tried to manage the suitability of investors, for example, when registering, they are required to fill in the income status and measure the risk tolerance. In the process of investment, investors with different income status, risk awareness and risk tolerance should be provided with investment targets in different categories and adjusted dynamically, or the investment proportion of investors should not exceed a certain proportion of income, so that investors will not unreasonably pursue excessive return on investment.
"Investors should also correctly assess their risk tolerance and set a reasonable target income according to their personal assets, family situation and work situation." Hu Honghui said that a suitable target income should have at least two characteristics: one is in line with its own risk tolerance, and the other is floating within a reasonable range of the industry average. At the same time, P2P online loan investment must adhere to the principle of small-scale diversified investment: the target on the platform is small enough to avoid large uncontrollable risks; The amount of each investment is small enough to reduce the possibility of big losses. You can diversify your investment in multiple platforms, match long-term and short-term targets, combine high-and low-yield products, and allocate most of your funds to products with low risk and stable returns.