Rhydian Lewis

Rhydian Lewis is founder and CEO of the UK’s fastest growing major peer-to-peer lender, RateSetter.

Together with COO Peter Behrens, he launched the business in late 2009 to offer consumers a credible alternative to established financial institutions. In spring 2010, they were joined by CTO and Figleaves.com veteran, John Gillespie. Since then the business has grown exponentially; by August 2011 RateSetter was a founding member of the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association.

Prior to founding RateSetter, Rhydian spent six years at leading financial advisory firm, Lazard. After joining the analyst programme in July 2003 he gained experience across M&A, Corporate Finance and Debt Advisory before specialising in Financial Institutions.

Prior to joining Lazard, Rhydian worked at Betfair, the world’s largest internet betting exchange. He also gained financial experience while working in Fixed Income Sales & Trading at JP Morgan.

Rhydian was educated at Bristol University where he graduated with a First Class degree in Modern Languages in 2000. During his time there he carried out a university placement at investment manager Banc Banif in Madrid.

Rhydian’s objective in setting up RateSetter was to reduce the gap between what savers could earn and borrowers could pay, cutting out the banks to deliver a better deal for both in a simple and secure way. Through Rhydian’s leadership RateSetter has pioneered many firsts in the industry, such as its Provision Fund, which has delivered 100% return on all investments. FCA regulation and P2P’s upcoming inclusion within NISAs is set to drive 48-times growth in the UK P2P market over the next five to 10 years, growing the sector from approximately £930m to £45bn.

Rhydian was born into a horse racing family from Oxfordshire. Alongside racing, his interests include history and reading an unhealthy amount about all aspects of business and finance. He speaks Spanish, French and Arabic and currently resides in South Kensington.