What is Lending Club offering as an investment?

I have invested the past approx. 18 months into Lending Club with an annual return currently at 7.49 %. I am highlighting several reasons why you might like to do some research on your own based on information provided by the firms website.

Basically as an investment, not subject to market conditions you earn interest monthly and receive principal back as well. You may reinvest or receive income similiar to an annuity.

As an investor, you are not making loans directly to borrowers.  Instead, you are investing in a Member Payment Dependent Note, or “Note,” which corresponds to a member loan made through the Lending Club platform.  If you hold Notes in your Lending Club account, Lending Club will distribute to you your pro rata portion of the principal and interest payments, if any, Lending Club receives from borrowers on the corresponding loans, net of its 1.00% service charge.
 
Lending Club assigns a grade (A–G) to each Note that reflects Lending Club’s assessment of the credit risk of the corresponding loan.  The stated interest rate on each Note varies depending on the credit risk of the corresponding loan.  Notes with greater credit risk are assigned higher interest rates.  Investors may use loan grades and other criteria to build a portfolio of Notes that matches their risk tolerance and investment objectives.*

I will post information concerning this form of investment over the next several days so do stay tuned.

Daniel F. Iuculano