P2P Global Investments

P2P Global Investments (P2PGI) was a pioneering British investment trust established in 2014 by Simon Champ, launching as the first publicly traded vehicle dedicated to the online lending sector. The company completed a £200 million Initial Public Offering on the London Stock Exchange in May 2014 and became a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The trust's primary objective was to generate dividend income for shareholders by investing in a diversified portfolio of alternative finance assets. Its initial strategy focused on acquiring consumer and small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans from prominent peer-to-peer lending platforms such as Zopa, RateSetter, and Funding Circle.

As the non-bank lending market evolved, P2PGI's strategy shifted. Beginning in 2017, the fund began repositioning its portfolio away from mainstream P2P loans towards specialist and secured assets like corporate trade receivables, which were perceived to offer higher risk-adjusted returns. This strategic pivot coincided with significant changes in its management structure. In 2017, Pollen Street Capital, a private equity firm, acquired a controlling interest in P2PGI's manager, MW Eaglewood, leading to a merger that created PSC Eaglewood Europe to jointly manage the fund. Simon Champ, the original founder, departed the following year by mutual agreement.

The company's transformation continued with a series of name changes to better reflect its new investment focus. In September 2019, P2P Global Investments was renamed Pollen Street Secured Lending plc. A year later, in October 2020, it became Alternative Credit Investments plc. The company's journey as an independent entity concluded in 2021 when it was acquired by the US-based asset manager Waterfall Asset Management in a deal valued at approximately £639.2 million. Its shares were delisted from the London Stock Exchange on March 16, 2021, marking the end of its operations as a publicly traded fund.

Keywords: P2P Global Investments, Pollen Street Secured Lending, Alternative Credit Investments, Simon Champ, investment trust, peer-to-peer lending, online lending, alternative finance, asset-backed securities, direct lending, London Stock Exchange, Waterfall Asset Management, MW Eaglewood, specialty finance, credit investment, SME loans, consumer loans, trade finance, dividend income, financial services investment