• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Prosper Blog

Personal Loans Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
  • Blog Home
  • Financial Literacy
    • Credit Score Information
    • Establishing Credit
    • Financial Trends
    • Interest and APR Information
  • Credit Management
    • Budgeting
    • Debt Consolidation
    • Managing Debt
  • Financial Wellness
    • Best Practices
    • Financial Habits
    • Financial Lifestyle
    • Saving and Investments
  • Finance for Homeowners
    • Home Equity
  • Investor Center
    • Investor Updates
    • Performance Updates
    • Quarterly Investor Updates
    • Tax Guides
  • Prosper News
    • Company News
    • Press Releases
    • Product Announcements

#MyProsperStory Q&A with Prosper Investor: Thomas Cloud

March 15, 2016 by Remi Harrad

Thomas Cloud, Jr. is president of Eleven Two Fund Management (ETFM), a certified financial planner (CFP), member of the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP) and an investor on Prosper’s marketplace lending platform. ETFM is a holistic, fee-only financial planning firm that works primarily with retirees and pre-retirees. The firm acts as a fiduciary and offers its clients high-touch and comprehensive financial planning services, with both active and passive management options.

 We reached out to learn about Thomas’s experience. Here’s what he had to say:

, Prosper Blog

Q: How did you first become interested in alternative investments?

A: I’ve always been interested in alternative investments, from before I first went into the financial planning business. My father sold tangible assets —precious metals and real estate —so I did not see stocks and bonds as the only way to go. I saw people make money in gold and in real estate, so I was open to other options.

Today, with bond yields hitting 112-year lows and many of my clients living on fixed incomes, many of my older clients have become open to new ways of expanding their retirement incomes. The yields on dividend stocks have been going down to less than two percent, so many of my clients’ incomes have decreased – sometimes by as much as half.  They’ve lost faith in the mainstream market. When I began looking at alternatives, I became interested in marketplace lending as an asset class.

Q: How do you evaluate the Notes your clients invest in? 

A:  I use independently purchased research software to access the Prosper platform and research all the loans Prosper has made since 2009. I’m then able to evaluate those loans and put together a portfolio of Notes corresponding to new loans to get my clients the highest return for the lowest amount of risk. We diversify investments by buying hundreds of Notes, which gives clients the most consistent chance of earning a return similar to those for Notes that have been issued since 2009. Today, it can take about six months to get fully invested.

Using the NSR  platform, the software purchases the Notes 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I get emails every day about the number of transactions in my clients’ accounts. The software tracks the performance of the loans corresponding to the Notes purchased, and I can provide my clients with monthly or quarterly statements.

Q: What piece of advice would you give an amateur marketplace investor just getting started in the space? 

A: I’d tell them to invest in a large number of Notes, over 250, to spread out the risk. I’d also advise that they start out conservatively by investing in higher credit-worthy borrowers.

Q: Are you recommending marketplace lending to your clients as an alternative investment?  

A:  Yes. The stock market has been rocky, which is making many of my clients uncomfortable. Given the volatility of the market after such a long run-up, people are seeking alternative investments. Investing in marketplace loans offer that with a proven a track record.

Q:  Do you see marketplace investing as a way of diversifying your clients’ portfolio going forward?

A: I feel very comfortable recommending that my clients take some of their money out of dividend paying stocks or junk corporate bonds and invest in their fellow citizens through marketplace lending. The stock market is all over the place, so the more diversification my clients get, the better their typical returns.  They’re very excited about it—and so am I.

—

This Q&A has been edited for the purpose of this blog post.

Prosper is not affiliated with Mr. Cloud or ETFM.  Prosper operates a marketplace lending platform through which individual and institutional investors may purchase borrower payment dependent notes (“Notes”).  More information about Prosper and the Notes offered by Prosper is available at www.prosper.com/prospectus.  Prosper has no role in Mr. Cloud or ETFM’s investment decisions and it is not responsible for and does not approve, endorse, review, recommend or guarantee the statements made by Mr. Cloud herein.  

Don’t forget to connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to learn about future #MyProsperStory campaigns and contests.

Share this post:

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Email

#MyProsperStory

Primary Sidebar

Connect with us

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

For press releases and media inquiries: Prosper in the News or [email protected]

Categories

  • Blog Home
  • Financial Literacy
    • Credit Score Information
    • Establishing Credit
    • Financial Trends
    • Interest and APR Information
  • Credit Management
    • Budgeting
    • Debt Consolidation
    • Managing Debt
  • Financial Wellness
    • Best Practices
    • Financial Habits
    • Financial Lifestyle
    • Saving and Investments
  • Finance for Homeowners
    • Home Equity
  • Investor Center
    • Investor Updates
    • Performance Updates
    • Quarterly Investor Updates
    • Tax Guides
  • Prosper News
    • Company News
    • Press Releases
    • Product Announcements

Recent Posts

  • Prosper Performance Update – March 2021
  • What the Extended Tax Deadline Means for You
  • Paying for Childcare and Receiving Childcare Assistance — What to Know
  • How to Apply for a HELOC Online, Plus 5 Benefits of an Online HELOC
  • Saving vs. Investing: What’s the Difference?

Prosper LoansFollow

Prosper Loans
ProsperLoansProsper Loans@ProsperLoans·
16 Apr

Just a couple more weeks until @LendIt #USA2021! Who's attending? 🙋🏽‍♀️🙋🏻🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏼🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏿

LendIt Fintech@LendIt

The USA 2021 agenda is now available✨

Head over to the link below to check it out https://www.lendit.com/usa/2021/agenda/

Reply on Twitter 1383175500940517377Retweet on Twitter 1383175500940517377Like on Twitter 13831755009405173771Twitter 1383175500940517377
Load More...
  • Finance for Homeowners, Home Equity, Prosper Blog
    Using a HELOC to Pay Off Your Mortgage

    Taking out a HELOC to pay off your mortgage is a common practice among many...

  • Best Practices, Financial Wellness, Prosper Blog
    Medical Bill Debt: What Happens If You Don’t Pay Medical Bills?

    Even before COVID, expensive healthcare costs had many Americans wondering...

  • Credit Management, Managing Debt, Prosper Blog
    Emergency Loans With No Job: Options for the Unemployed

    While the unemployment rate in June showed a decline to 11.1%, that ra...

  • Product Announcements
    Introducing the Prosper Invest Mobile App

    With the new Prosper Invest Mobile app, investors can adjust their investm...

  • Investor Center, Tax Guides
    2020 Tax Guide for Prosper Investors

    It’s tax season, and to help Prosper retail investors navigate the process...

Footer

  • Borrow
  • Invest
  • About Us
  • Press
  • Blog
  • Careers
  • Help Center
  • Contact Us
  • Legal
  • Prospectus
  • Financial Professionals
  • Developers

Prosper and WebBank take your privacy seriously. Please see Prosper's Privacy Policy and WebBank's Privacy Policy for more details. Prosper makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information provided on this Blog, which is intended for discussion purposes only. Opinions expressed in articles posted to this blog are the author’s own and may not reflect the opinions of Prosper. All personal loans made by WebBank, Member FDIC.

Prosper’s Notes are offered by Prospectus filed with the SEC. Notes are dependent for payment on unsecured loans made to individual borrowers. Notes are not guaranteed or FDIC insured, and investors may lose some or all of the principal invested. Prosper does not verify all information provided by borrowers in listings. Investors should review the Prospectus and carefully consider these and other risks and uncertainties before investing. None of the information provided on this Blog is intended to be investment advice.

Prosper Marketplace, Inc. NMLS#111473 (http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org)
All HELOCs are underwritten and issued by our banking partners. Refer to www.prosper.com/heloc for more information. Links to third party sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.

Equal Housing Lender

© 2005-2021 Prosper Funding LLC. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2021 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version