Direct Lending Investment Manager Goji reaches £100m in assets and partners with SimplyBiz

Goji, the investment manager and platform focused on Direct Lending, today announced it has reached over £100 million in assets on its platform, aiding Goji’s mission to open-up the Direct Lending sector to advice. This milestone coincides with Goji becoming a partner of SimplyBiz, the largest adviser-support network in the UK.

Direct Lending is the world’s fastest-growing asset class, yet little of that is advised – it is mostly institutional money or direct investors using one of the large P2P lending platforms. Advisers have been cautious of the asset class, perceived as relatively new and untested, but in light of recent HMRC figures in September 2018, as well as the growing assets on the Goji platform, the tide appears to be turning.

Jake Wombwell-Povey, CEO of Goji comments: “We’re delighted to announce that we’ve passed the £100m mark, having doubled the assets on the platform in a little over six months. Goji was the first firm to offer investors diversification across a number of platforms through a single Innovative Finance ISA and now we have over 8,000 customer accounts. This, along with passing the due diligence process of SimplyBiz, allows us to bring our differentiated offering to thousands of new advisers in the UK and is a validation of our efforts to make Direct Lending more accessible.

Goji carefully select its lending partners covering SME loans, real estate lending, leasing and financing educational institutions backed by the UK Government. By supporting these businesses, Goji is helping to power the UK economy, whether it’s helping a university to build new halls of residence, a farm owner to diversify into renewable energy provision or an SME to expand into a bigger property.

Dan Russell, Managing Director, SimplyBiz Investment Services adds: “It’s great to see continued innovation in the marketplace, giving advisers the tools they need to help deliver exceptional client outcomes. Such innovation put the onus on us, as a service provider, to work closely with manufacturers to make sure their solutions fit into the practical day to day reality of giving financial advice – identifying target clients and integrating into the research and suitability process.”

Wombwell-Povey continued: “Whilst we’ve seen a great deal of progress, the challenge still remains for SIPPs. However, as more advisers appreciate the diversifying effect of the asset class, and its low volatility nature compared to traditional fixed income (which is increasingly concerning in a rising interest rate environment), logic says SIPPs won’t be far behind.”