Greetings,
US payrolls rose by 103,000 in March and the unemployment rate remained at 4.1%. Average hourly earnings rose by 2.7% which should keep the Fed on track to raise interest rates twice more this year. Rising interest rates are putting pressure on consumers by increasing monthly payments on variable rate credit cards and mortgage products. A steep rise in interest rates would put a dampener on debt-fueled consumer spending – and consumer debt – which has grown faster than GDP over the last several years.
GreenSky, a lending platform that enables retailers, health-care providers and home contractors to offer loans to their customers, has confidentially filed for an IPO later this summer. GreenSky is looking to raise $1 Bn, a rarity for fintech companies, especially after the stock prices of most fintech companies have struggled after going public. In other financing news, PeerStreet, a marketplace for fix-and-flip loans, led by Brew Johnson and Brett Crosby, has raised $29.5 Mn in a Series B round led by World Innovation Lab.
This week, we breakdown Jamie Dimon’s annual letter and identify some of the highlights at the LendIt conference this week.
LendIt – What to Look For!
The PeerIQ team will be at LendIt next week. Do stop by our booth or reach out to schedule a meeting! CEO Ram Ahluwalia will be speaking at LendIt on the 9th of April
Keynotes that we expect attendees to focus on:
- Lending Club’s Scott Sanborn. It’s been a few months since LendingClub’s investor day (see our summary here). New products including the exchange-listed ETP were introduced, and an overall 2018 plan of “Focus and Invest”. Will Sanborn reinforce the Investor Day message?
- Upgrade’s Renaud Laplance. Prior to the May 9th LendingClub events, Renaud occupied the center lead position at the LendIt conferences. Since leaving LendingClub, Renaud and and co-founders setup Upgrade which appears to be one of the fastest growing non-bank lenders in the US – arguably faster than Marcus which had a few years to setup servicing. Renaud has not spoken publicy due in part to open SEC investigation. Will Renaud focus on his story, or on the future of Upgrade
- PeerIQ CEO, Ram Ahluwalia. will speak on the topic of on “What is Happening with Personal Loan Losses?”. The short of answer is losses are rising. Some of the factors have never been discussed and may surprise you. Stop by Monday at 10:50am PT (‘Credit and Underwriting’ Track)
Do check out PeerIQ’s Portfolio Insights Suite that drives immediate analysis of the Composition, Performance, and Underwriting of your loan portfolio.
Our “Asset Breakdown” tab provides a quick summary of your loan portfolio as it currently stands, including important summary statistics, DQ trends over time, and relevant stratifications of your portfolio.
Generate insights at-a-glance on our Performance Analysis tab where you can view key trends in a single view. Compare vintages and benchmarks, or drill down into one vintage!
Our “Underwriting Analysis” page facilitates an in-depth analysis of the changes in your portfolio’s underwriting over time. The platform provides both point-in-time, time series, and distributions so you can spot trends and make decisions faster.
JP Morgan’s Annual Report
Below are some highlights from Jamie Dimon’s letter to shareholders and from the Investor Day presentation (with a focus on technology, credit performance, and regulation).
- Focus on Digital Consumer Banking: JPM is rolling out a fully mobile bank pilot called Finn, digital account openings, facial recognition in the app, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa card and a simpler online application for Business Banking customers. They also introduced Chase Pay, the digital equivalent to using a debit or credit card, which allows customers to pay online or in-stores using their mobile phone, and Zelle, a real-time consumer-to-consumer payments system, which allows customers to immediately send money to their friends and family.
- Credit Fundamentals: JP Morgan sees net charge-offs remaining relatively flat across wholesale and consumer portfolios and a benign credit environment, except for credit cards, where the net charge-off rate is seen rising to 3.25-3.50% in 2018 because of the seasoning of newer origination vintages.
Smart Regulation: JP Morgan advocates for smart regulation which will fix the fiscal deficit and the entitlement system, the infrastructure and the environment. They are in favor of the recently enacted tax law which provides for a competitive tax system, and an overall competent government that works in partnership with business.
Conferences
CEO Ram Ahluwalia will be speaking at LendIt 2018 on the 9th of April on “What is Happening with Personal Loan Losses”
PeerIQ Mentions
- Banks Drive Up LendIt Headcount (Asset-Backed Alert, 4/6/18)
- OnDeck makes ABS Return (GlobalCapital, 4/3/18)
Industry Update:
- S. Payrolls Rise Below-Forecast 103,000 as Wages Pick Up (Bloomberg, 4/6/18) Payrolls rose by only 103k but wages rose by 2.8% in March, keeping the Fed on track to raise rates twice.
- Rising Rates Sounding Alarm Bells for Debt-Laden U.S. Consumers (Bloomberg, 4/2/18) Rising rates are squeezing consumers and reducing affordability, especially for those with floating-rate debt.
- Fintech Firm GreenSky Files Confidentially for IPO (WSJ, 4/2/18) Home improvement loan marketplace GreenSky is looking to raise $1 Bn in an IPO, another sign of the sector maturing.
- PeerStreet Marketplace for Real-Estate Loans Grabs $29.5 Million (WSJ, 4/5/18) PeerStreet, a marketplace for fix-and-flip loans, has raised $29.5 Mn in a Series B round led by World Innovation Lab.
- Upstart tests buyer appetite with riskier loans, more sub notes (GlobalCapital, 4/2/18) Upstart is adding a D tranche to its latest deal and testing a more volatile than usual primary market. KBRA’s presale is available here.
- Mosaic readies new solar loan deal (GlobalCapital, 4/3/18) Mosaic is in the market with a $235 Mn solar ABS deal, their first for 2018. KBRA’s presale is available here.
- OnDeck makes ABS Return (GlobalCapital, 4/3/18) OnDeck is looking to issue its first securitization in 2 years at tighter spreads to offset the increase in their cost of funds from rising rates.
- SCLP 2018-2 presale (KBRA, 4/4/18) SoFi’s latest $545 Mn consumer loan securitization is rated AA, A and BBB across the stack.
- SoFi Plans to Start Rolling Out Deposit Accounts Next Month (Bloomberg, 4/6/18) SoFi is teaming up with WFS Financial to offer deposit accounts and debit cards next month, in a push to broaden consumer financial offerings.
- LendingClub settles with Mass. banking regulator for $2M (American Banker, 4/3/18) LC settled with Mass. Banking regulator in a licensing dispute.
- SunTrust teams with fintech to offer loans for HVAC upgrades (American Banker, 4/4/18) In continuing bank-fintech partnerships, Suntrust is partnering with Microf to allow HVAC dealers to offer point-of-sale loans.
- Laurel Road finds a novel solution to a uniquely bank problem (Asset Securitization Report, 4/2/18) Laurel Road sold servicing strips off its student loan pools to reduce the capital requirements associated with holding servicing rights. Laurel Road recently also announced that Daniel Rowayton Bank would be rebranded under Laurel Road.
- Walmart takes its money transfer service global (CNBC, 4/3/18) WalMart is expanding its money transfer service internationally, providing further evidence for retailers’ financial services aspirations. Check out our prior analysis on this topic here.
- China’s P2P lenders brace for renewed regulatory crackdown (FT, 4/1/18) Chinese regulators are putting in place licensing, record-filing, custodian and loan limit rules to govern the P2P lending industry, which in 2017 lent $445 Bn.
- Ambani’s Jio Payments Bank Is Now Live (Bloomberg Quint, 4/3/18) The latest entrant in India’s crowded payments bank field is Jio Payments Bank, a partnership between Jio Telecom and State Bank of India. India’s banking regulator allows these banks to provide low-cost banking services, except loans.
- Mulvaney Gives Congress Advice on Stripping Away His CFPB Powers (Bloomberg, 4/2/18) In potential erosion of the CFPB’s powers, director Mulvaney is telling Congress how to curb the watchdog’s authority by allowing lawmakers to block its regulations.
Lighter Fare:
- Cheap American Chicken Gave us This Weird Subaru Pickup (Wired, 12/10/14) A fun take on how trade wars, the topic-du-jour, gave us a weird little Subaru truck.