British Pearl successfully sold its entire property portfolio and repaid its lenders the following day.
The property investment platform was launched in 2018, backed by former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Stanley Fink, and allows investors to fund property developments through a loan or equity.
In a shareholder update shared on Seedrs, British Pearl said the platform had completed the sale of its entire property portfolio at the close of business on March 31 and investor funds had been distributed the following day in their online wallets.
The update indicates that investors holding only loans in their portfolio did well, receiving their original principal loan amount plus all promised interest payments who paid an average of 4.09%, as there was no There were no defaults or missed interest payments in the loan portfolio.
The announcement revealed that stock-only investors on average suffered losses of around 10% including dividend payments and incentives, while lenders who had a balanced portfolio often came out flat or in profit, but it would depend on the specifics of their portfolio. configuration.
British Pearl said the decision to sell the portfolio was due to the economic backdrop of Covid and Brexit and hinted that what has happened to other major property investment platforms this year gave reassurance that it was the right choice.
Read more: British Pearl solicits investor input on new property portfolio
Read more: British Pearl set to finalize portfolio sale
“Clearly our goal is for all of our investors to make money,” the update read.
“However, given the Covid and Brexit context, we believe our decision to sell was appropriate at the time and we are pleased with the outcome; that is, our investors had access to their cash during a difficult time and we focused on our efforts to mitigate downside risk during a time of great uncertainty.
“My confidence in our decision to sell the portfolio was further strengthened when considering what happened to some of the biggest real estate investment platforms this year; The House Crowd went into receivership, BrickLane and Octopus Choice permanently closed their doors for new investments and Property Partner was sold to the American company Better.
“There have clearly been challenges in our market, but I still believe in the accessibility and customer benefits created by real estate investment platforms and fintech in general. I am happy that there are still many active UK platforms and many other emerging platforms around the world.
British Pearl said it was working to make investments available where the local authority would be the contract tenant and continued to talk to businesses in the UK and overseas to offer the British Pearl investment platform as a what service.
Read more: British financial backer Pearl Lord Fink on the Sunday Times rich list with a fortune of £160m
“Moving forward, we are currently focused on pursuing two opportunities,” the update read.
“First of all, we are working on making investments available where the local authority will be the contractual tenant. Under this arrangement, the risk related to rental income will be significantly reduced.
“We believe this type of opportunity is more appropriate given the current economic climate. Secondly, we continue to engage with businesses in the UK and overseas about the British Pearl as a Service (PaaS) In the past, we have shown considerable interest in this area and are in the process of revisiting it.
“Unfortunately, these opportunities are taking longer than originally anticipated, but given the current economic environment, we are taking our time and exercising caution.”