Remember, bonds are investments not savings. You are investing your money for a fixed term and your capital and interest are at risk – please do check our risk summary.
Still have a question? Got an idea? Email customerservices@advancr.com or call +44 (0)20 3198 6983.
By investing in Advancr Bonds, you are lending money to a company, Advancr Leasing Limited. Advancr Leasing Limited uses this capital to fund business activity: i.e. providing lease finance and lending money to small and medium-sized businesses around the UK. In return for borrowing your money, Advancr Leasing Limited will issue you with Advancr Bonds under which the company agrees to pay you a fixed annual rate of interest (paid monthly) for a fixed time period or term (for example: 1, 2, or 3 years) at the end of which you get back the amount you originally lent.
For example, if you invest £10,000 in a 2 year Advancr Bond, you will be paid interest on a monthly basis over 2 years and then receive your £10,000 back at the end of the two year term. Each time you invest, no matter how large or small the sum, you subscribe to a new Advancr Bond. Advancr Bonds do not give you shares, or a right to shares, in any companies.
An investment in Bonds should enable you:
Advancr Bonds have the following characteristics:
Individuals aged 18 or over who are residents of the UK. You must also pass any anti-money-laundering (AML) checks that we run and be one of the following types of investors:
The rate of interest Advancr Leasing Limited pays you in return for borrowing your money is likely to be higher than the interest you earn on savings in your bank account, though the risks may be greater (see the risks section at http://www.advancr.com/risk). The fixed interest you earn is dependent on the term of your selected Advancr Bonds. The Advancr Bonds currently on offer are as follows:
1 Year – 6.5%
2 Year – 7%
3 Year - 7.5%
As you can see, the fixed interest rate will be higher the longer you are prepared to lend to the company. Interest rates are stated as a gross annual rate, but your interest is paid each month, giving you a regular income.
For example, if you invest £10,000 in the 3 year Advancr Bond paying 7.50% interest, each year you will receive £750 gross income (paid in twelve monthly instalments of £62.50); this equates to £2,250 of interest over three years. For more information about the tax due on Advancr Bonds, see the FAQ below: ‘How much tax do I pay for investing in Advancr Bonds?’.
Your bonds start earning you interest from day one. On the first business day following the end of each calendar month, interest from your Advancr Bonds will be credited to your Holding Account (where it will not earn interest). Interest is not paid out (though it is earned) in the first month of investment. Instead, the interest accrues day to day in the first month and is rolled up and paid together with the second month's interest on the first business day following the end of that second month. Interest is paid based on a 360 day year. You can request to withdraw any interest credited to your Holding Account at any time on demand from your dashboard or apply to reinvest the proceeds into additional Advancr Bonds if you prefer. Withdrawn money is subject to the normal bank clearing processes.
Register via the Advancr website at www.advancr.com. This takes about five minutes. Start by clicking on the green ‘Get Started,’ ‘Join’, or ‘Register’ buttons on the home-page (which can be found here).
First, enter your basic personal details (name, date of birth, email, mobile, address, and choose a password) and agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy, possibly providing further identification details if requested by the anti-money laundering protocols. Then select which of three investor types you are and answer questions on your understanding of the risks of investing in Advancr Bonds. Next, choose how much you want to invest and into which Advancr Bonds. Pay (in £ Sterling only), either by a one-off direct debit bank transfer or by debit card, both done immediately through our online system. You will then be able to access your personalised dashboard.
As soon as you have finished this process, you will be sent an email with confirmation of your investment. Within 14 days, a copy of your Advancr Bond Certificate will be available to view and download in the drop down menu found on your dashboard page. We will remind you by email when it is ready.
At any one time you may invest in each of the three types of Advancr Bond from as little as £100 to a maximum of £50,000. Above £100, investments can be made in multiples of £10. For all online applications we do have a limit of £5,000 per month which can be invested by direct debit, and we have a limit of £5,000 per transaction which can be invested by debit card. Should you wish to invest more than £5,000 then please get in touch with us by whatever method is most convenient for you and we will process your application in person.
No. There is no charge for investing in Advancr Bonds. Advancr Leasing Limited generates its revenue by earning rental and interest income from its business operations.
Click on the ‘Sign in’ box in the top-right of the Advancr home-page. Sign in with your username and password (if you have forgotten your password, see ‘I have forgotten my password. What should I do?’). The dashboard will show you how much you have invested and into which Advancr Bonds. Here you can also withdraw interest earned to date, invest more, view important documents, and change your account details.
Advancr Bonds are unsecured and illiquid investments. Should Advancr Leasing Limited’s business operation not perform as expected there is a risk that your initial investment could be lost, as well as any future interest payments. Please review the risks section at http://www.advancr.com/risk to find out more.
Advancr Bonds are unsecured investments. FSCS protection does not apply to them. There are two types of FSCS protection: deposits and investments.
Deposit protection applies when money belonging to you is held in the Client Account. With investments in Advancr Bonds, this occurs when your money is transferred to us to make an investment.. While the money is in the Client Account (which is likely to be a short period) it is protected by the FSCS deposit protection which is currently £75,000 per person. This Client Account is operated by Triple Point and is held with the Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS).
Repayments of principal and interest will be made to the Holding Account, which is a separate account held for investors on a segregated basis. It is not treated as ‘client money’ under FCA Rules but is held on trust for holders of Advancr Bonds.
There may be limited circumstances in which there may be a claim against Triple Point Investment Management LLP if it is in default of a legally enforceable obligation to you (either direct or through its Appointed Representative; Advancr Limited) of up to £50,000. This is unlikely to affect significantly the risk that you assume in investing in Advancr Bonds which are unsecured obligations of Advancr leasing Limited. The FSCS is a fund of last resort to cover any claims you might have against a firm that is in default. For more detail on the FSCS and their eligibility criteria see their website http://www.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/eligibility-rules/.
We always welcome, and prefer, the opportunity to handle any concerns you may have directly. However, should you have any complaint about Advancr Limited, the operator of the platform, or Triple Point Investment Management LLP (which has approved the Information Memorandum for the purpose of FSMA 2000), the operator of the Client Account, that we are unable to resolve to your satisfaction, it may be possible to raise these with the Financial Ombudsman Service. For more detail on the Ombudsman and their eligibility criteria see their website http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/.
Advancr Leasing Limited is responsible for ensuring that interest is being paid to investors. Interest payments are paid to the Holding Account on your behalf.
Out of the interest that you earn on your Advancr Bond or Advancr Bonds, HMRC requires us to withhold Basic Rate Tax (currently 20%). This means, for example, that if you invest £10,000 in the 3 year Advancr Bond paying interest at 7.5% p.a., providing you with an annual interest income of £750, an annual total of £600 will be paid into your Holding Account after deducting £150 of tax which is remitted to HMRC on your behalf. The amount of tax you must ultimately pay will depend on your individual circumstances and tax status.
For example, if you are a higher or additional rate taxpayer, you may need to account for further tax in your Self-Assessment tax return. Consequently, before investing in Advancr Bonds it may be sensible for you to get tax advice from a suitably qualified advisor.
Advancr Leasing Limited has a subscription limit of £10m, as disclosed in the Advancr Bond Deed. This document should be read carefully. Once investors have collectively invested this amount, Advancr Leasing Limited will stop accepting Advancr Bond subscriptions for that particular issue of Advancr Bonds. Each Advancr Bond issue will also have a closing date after which subscriptions will no longer be accepted.
Yes. Triple Point Advancr operates a resale market which allows investors to transfer Advancr Bonds to other investors on the platform. Although, we do not guarantee that bonds listed for transfer will be purchased by other investors. Should you wish to transfer your bond, please contact us via email at customerservices@advancr.com or on 0203 198 6983.
Advancr Leasing Limited pays you a fixed rate of interest on the basis that, except in exceptional circumstances (see ‘What happens to my Advancr Bonds if I die?’) your money stays invested for the whole of the agreed term. We will look at early-redemption applications on an exceptional basis and will endeavour to help our investors where possible but it is important that you understand that you are committing your money for the term of the Advancr Bond you select. This is also covered in the risks section at http://www.advancr.com/risk.
If you die while owning Advancr Bonds, your investment can be prematurely redeemed by an authorised person acting on behalf of the estate. Please note that this early redemption will take around three months. This means that, subject to any specific liquidity management considerations at the time, the amount you initially invested can be returned on request to executors administering your estate before the end of the term, without penalty. Once redeemed, no further interest will accrue on those Advancr Bonds. If you are acting on behalf of the estate of a deceased investor which wants to redeem Advancr Bonds, please email customerservices@advancr.com or call +44 (0)20 3198 6983.
Yes. Advancr Leasing Limited does have the right to pay you back the amount you initially invested, as well as all accrued interest, before the end of the agreed term. This is unlikely to happen, though it is a protection mechanism for Advancr Leasing Limited should economic circumstances change so significantly that it becomes unable to continue deploying capital. You can read more about this in in the risks section at http://www.advancr.com/risk.
You have the right to cancel your investment in an Advancr Bond for 14 days after the date you make your investment. After this, you generally cannot get your investment back until the end of the term (see Can I get my investment back early?). To cancel within the first 14 days, simply sign in to your account (which can be found here) and select the investment from the ‘View holdings’ tab on the drop down menu in the top right of the screen. A ‘Cancel Investment’ option will appear. Click this. Your investment will move from the ‘Live Investments’ list to ‘Historic Investments’, with the status showing as ‘Pending Cancellation’. We will notify you by email when your investment has been cancelled.
Click on the ‘Sign in’ box in the top-right of the home-page. Click on the ‘Forgot Password’ box which can be found underneath the green ‘Login’ box. An email will be sent to you with a new password, which you can use to log in to your account. Once signed in, you can change your password by clicking on the ‘Account’ tab found in the drop down menu on the top right of the dashboard. If you have any problems, please email customerservices@advancr.com or call +44 (0)20 3198 6983.
Once you have registered, you will be able to sign in to your account by clicking on the ‘Sign in’ button at the top-right of the home-page and entering your username and password. You can then access, and amend, your account details by clicking the ‘Account’ tab found on your dashboard. If you have any problems, please email customerservices@advancr.com or call +44 (0)20 3198 6983.
Please contact our customer services team at complaints@advancr.com. So that we can investigate your complaint fully, please ensure that you include all of the following information: your full name and address, your investment details, what has happened / gone wrong, and how you would like us to put it right. A member of the team will acknowledge receipt of your email and will investigate the matter thoroughly before responding fully within five working days.