Octopus Group

[lucas]

An interesting group that I stumbled upon.

Initially I was considering investing in their VCTs (similar tax benefits to EIS) but the fairly chunky fees put me off.

They also offer P2P lending backed by property (Octopus Choice). Platform is easy to use and expected return is over 4%. They also put their own money into every loan (~5%) and are last to receive their cash back. I have been quite impressed by the product and they offer it in an IFISA wrapper.

Given the good experience I recently switched energy supplier to Octopus Energy. 100% renewable energy , NO exit fees, and pricing seems to be generally cheaper than the big players.

All up I have been fairly impressed. Anyone else had any experiences? good or bad?

As always, do your own research, but if you are interested here are my referral links.

• Referral link (P2P lending): http://referme.to/LqGg3bo (both get a £25 amazon voucher if £500 or more is deposited)

• Referral link (Energy) You've been referred by a friend! | Octopus Energy (both receive £50 on account)

[HarryG (Harry)]

I met one of their investment managers last week on their VC side. Companies in the portfolio are good, I like Origami Energy and Property Partner a lot. They’re the biggest VC in the UK and are raising the most for their VCT.

Biggest issue with VCT is the returns they provide to investors - 5% dividend is simply crap for a venture investment. A lot of money gets removed before you get it back.

Interesting on their P2P and energy side though, I hadn’t heard of that!