Octopus Investments has announced that Charlie Taylor has been appointed as the new Head of Octopus Cash and Octopus Choice, its cash management and peer to peer lending products. He will report into the new CEO for Octopus Investments Ruth Handcock.
Charlie takes over the role from Sam Handfield-Jones, who has been promoted into a new role as Growth and Innovation Director, where he will focus on creating completely new financial products and services for financial advisers and their clients.
Octopus Choice is a property backed P2P lending platform launched in 2016 and developed by Octopus Investments with advisers in mind. It now has over 1000 adviser supporters across the UK and over £220m under management. It offers an easy to use app with real-time loan updates and targets around 4% in interest.
Octopus Cash is a cash management solution launched in 2017 with now over £130m assets under management and 15% month on month growth. It provides advisers and investors FSCS protection for cash up to £425k through one single application form and works with numerous partner banks including Metro Bank, Aldermore, OakNorth, Bank & Clients, Cambridge & Counties, Shawbrook Bank and Teachers Building Society.
Sam Handfield-Jones commented:
“There is a real need and opportunity to help more people manage their cash effectively, especially in a sustained low interest rate environment. Peer to peer lending is also growing in popularity as the current economic climate highlights the importance of asset diversification. Octopus Cash and Choice were created in partnership with financial advisers to address these concerns and we’ve seen a steady flow of money into both products which now manage more than £350 million on behalf of more than 10,000 investors and savers. Each month over £28 million is being invested and saved through them and we’re delighted that over 1000 financial advisers are using these products to help deliver on their clients’ financial goals.
“The market opportunity for both products is huge and we are thrilled that Charlie has joined the team to take these products through their next stage growth of development, as we continue to innovate and develop meaningful products for advisers and their clients.”
Charlie Taylor joins Octopus following a varied career including extensive experience in strategy consulting for multinational corporates, private equity and data analytics, business delivery and marketing within fintech start-ups. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biophysics from Oxford and an MBA from Insead.
Charlie Taylor commented:
“I’m excited to have this opportunity to work with the talented team at Octopus to manage the Choice and Cash products and unlock the significant growth potential that exists in the peer to peer lending market and cash management sector. Data analytics and technology will continue to drive our product innovation as we work to create additional features to make both products even more user-friendly for advisers and direct customers.”
More about Octopus Choice
- Minimum investment is £10
- Loan breakdown: 71% buy to let properties, 16% for bridge-to-let, 8% for commercial and 6% for bridging loans
- Octopus underwrites every transaction including a full review of the borrower and the property
- Added security – Octopus invests 5 % in every loan
- Octopus Choice is also available through an ISA wrapper
- Funded over 560 loans to date incurring zero losses
More about Octopus Cash
- Octopus owns the technology platform – customers have access to their savings online
- Minimum deposit of £1000
- Term – 35 day notice or fixed rate on 6, 12, 18 or 24 month accounts, with interest paid and access granted at the end of the term
- You can open an account in 2 minutes online and then customers have one account with one point of contact to access savings spread across multiple banks
- Octopus places deposits across partner banks to get more FSCS cover starting with the most competitive rate
- At the end of the term, customers can withdraw, save more or redeposit at the tick of a box.
-Ends-
For journalists in their professional capacity only. The value of an investment, and any income from it, can fall as well as rise. Investors may not get back the full amount they invest. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Money invested through Octopus Choice is concentrated in loans backed by property and could be affected by market conditions. For the same reason, instant access to invested capital cannot be guaranteed. Peer-to-peer investments are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Personal opinions may change and should not be seen as advice or a recommendation. We do not offer investment or tax advice. We recommend investors seek professional advice before deciding to invest. Octopus Choice is provided by Octopus Co-Lend Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (722801). Issued by Octopus Investments Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: 33 Holborn, London, EC1N 2HT. Registered in England and Wales No. 3942880. Issued March 2019.