Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose money. This is a high-risk investment. You may not be able to access your money easily and are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 minutes to learn more.

The Assetz Capital platform is no longer open to investment from individual investors. No new investments into peer-to-peer loans are possible and, as a result, no new funds should be deposited. The existing loan book relating to the Retail platform is now in run-off and this will, over time, deliver the return of capital to investors. Full information can be found here . Existing Retail lenders can still log in, view information regarding their account and loan holdings and operate their account in accordance with the information regarding the run-off provided on the link above. Please see this important message regarding the currency of the information on the pages on this website.

MSN Money: Invest in a financial Christmas gift

Here are some suggestions.

Children’s savings and investments

If the gift recipient is a child, why not contribute to a savings account or a tax-free Junior ISA? If they don’t have one already, you could arrange to open one in their name.

You can save up to £4,000 in a Junior ISA during the current tax year. The top interest rate on a cash Junior ISA currently comes from Halifax at 4%, although it’s conditional on an adult Halifax ISA being held as well.

The top Junior ISA rate with no strings attached comes from Coventry Building Society and Nationwide at 3.25.

In terms of children’s savings accounts, the top rate for instant access is 3% from Halifax and Bank of Scotland. These accounts can be opened in branch with just £1.

You could also look at a stocks and shares Junior ISA. Some providers offer the chance to pick shares or invest in index trackers (which are preferred), while others just give a choice of funds. Make sure you shop around and compare charges.

Or you could invest in individual company shares.

Lending money

You could also choose to lend some money in the name of someone, which could earn them a return later.

Peer-to-peer lending to other people

There is a growing number of peer-to-peer websites allowing you to lend money to people keen to borrow.

Examples include Zopa, RateSetter and LendingWorks. You can choose to lend your money over terms of up to five years and enjoy a rate of more than 5%. Shorter terms, or ones that offer near-immediate access, come with smaller interest rates.

This isn’t without risk, as the money isn’t protected by the Financial Service Compensation Scheme. However, the big peer-to-peer lenders all have contingency funds in case people get into trouble.

Peer-to-peer lending to small businesses

Another option is to lend some money to businesses looking to borrow via a peer-to-peer site. Funding Circle is arguably the most well-established company in this space. It reckons it can deliver returns of up to 7% if money is locked away.

Alternatively, you can lend to green projects through a site like Assetz Capital and earn up to 7%, or to buy-to-let landlords through Landbay.

Crowdfunding

For something that perhaps has a bit more of a frisson of excitement about it, you could enable someone to become an investor in a company or project.

There are plenty of companies out there offering the option to invest small amounts, often as little as £5.

Big names here include Seedrs and Crowdcube, which allow you to invest in both start-ups and existing businesses.

If you fancy investing in green energy, Abundance Generation has debentures in solar projects available to gift from just £5.

All of these operations are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, although there is a chance you could lose you money if a business goes under.

- December 19, 2014

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