# How did the for-profit direct-loan mini-investors do lately?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-for-profit-direct-loan-mini-investors-do-lately/599344>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 11, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-for-profit-direct-loan-mini-investors-do-lately/599344 "2011-10-11T20:35:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-for-profit-direct-loan-mini-investors-do-lately/599344/1 "2011-10-11T20:35:43Z")

</div>

You know, the websites where you can finance part of or all of a loan to an individual using your money?

How did the average investor in these sorts of mini-loans do the past 3-4 years? Have there been an enormous amount of defaults of these loans?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-for-profit-direct-loan-mini-investors-do-lately/599344/2 "2011-10-11T21:12:02Z")

</div>

Well, here’s what they SAY:

[Prosper.com Official Line](http://www.prosper.com/about/media_press_releases.aspx?t=%0A ____________Lender_Returns_of_10.4%25*_and_Low_Default_Rates_Continue_to_Drive_Record_Growth_at_Prosper.com%0A________ )

and [this](http://blog.prosper.com/2011/08/10/conservative-underwriting-for-uncertain-times/).

So, if you’re talking about the first world, and you believe corporate PR,

> [@](#):
>
> Our strict credit policy has yielded better-than-expected returns (10.6%_) with lower-than-expected losses (annualized loss rate is 5.2%_, compared to a forecast 6.6%\*) since 2009. Despite the fact that losses have come in below expectations, we have chosen to maintain substantial risk buffers in all our underwriting to protect investor returns in an uncertain environment.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-for-profit-direct-loan-mini-investors-do-lately/599344/3 "2011-10-11T23:20:55Z")

</div>

This thread may be helpful, with some first-hand information:

[Lending Club Experiences](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=537202&highlight=loan)