With a small delay, here is our Savings4Freedom monthly update!
I’m really happy with the way my P2P investments are evolving this year. By choosing to invest in P2P lending, every single day I’m confronted with the need to learn new aspects of the industry and improve my processes for efficiency and security.
As I described in my previous update, I’m continuing to shift funds between P2P platforms to diversify and increase my average portfolio interest rate results. In July, I opened accounts in Monethera (very good experience so far) and iban Wallet (a nice complement to my P2P portfolio for money liquidity reasons). You can check my first impressions on both platforms later on this publication.
I also want to share that from now on, I’m sharing with the community my Financial Literacy Video Library to FIRE (financial independence and retiring early). I love to learn and I want to share some of the best videos I found with you.
Loan Originator Issues: Aforti
P2P platforms such as Viventor and Mintos shared this week that one of their Loan Originators (Aforti). One of the risks of investing in P2P lending is the loan originator. You can check the Risks section on this dedicated page to learn more about other aspects to consider before investing.
But, without any further due, let’s see the numbers!
S4F Portfolio Update July 2019
You can see real screenshots of my accounts and my review of the platforms checking my P2P platforms portfolio page.
I will over time consolidate my P2P lending investments portfolio into my Top 8 personal P2P platform choices.
1 – Kuetzal (~19% returns, enterprise & real estate, buyback guarantee);
2 – Monethera (~19% returns, enterprise & real estate, buyback guarantee);
3 – Envestio (~16% returns, enterprise loans, secured debt);
4 – FastInvest (~13% returns, consumer loans, buyback guarantee);
5 – Grupeer (~13% returns, multiple loans, buyback guarantee but no possibility to sell);
6 – Mintos (~12% returns, multiple loans, buyback guarantee);
7 – Viventor (~11% returns, multiple loans, buyback guarantee);
8 – iban Wallet (~2.5% returns, automated, daily interest payment, immediate liquidity).
I added this month Monethera and iban Wallet to my Top P2P platform choices for completely different reasons.
Monethera for the high-interest rates, but in particular for the quick communication, feedback collection and inclusion into their platform of information over the first month, after my initial questions.
iban Wallet for the need to have a simple manner to keep financial resources liquid to move across platforms and earn interest above what traditional banks offer.
You can check my initial impressions on Monethera and iban Wallet by clicking the images above.
Until this month, Robocash was among my top choices. I decided to remove it from it since a significant part of my loan portfolio is overdue. Even considering that Robocash offers buyback guarantee, I prefer to shift my savings to other platforms that allow me to choose the loans I invest in.
Monthly Income Statement: July 2019
Platform | INFO | Invested (€) | Month Return (€) | Asset Profit (€) | Asset Value (€) |
KUETZAL | 1.454,05 | 18,71 | 45,95 | 1.500,00 | |
MONETHERA | 2.239,03 | 17,80 | 17,80 | 2.256,83 | |
ENVESTIO | 5.123,95 | 76,59 | 380,99 | 5.504,94 | |
FASTINVEST | 1.172,37 | 11,46 | 27,63 | 1.200,00 | |
GRUPEER | 5.143,72 | 79,23 | 535,51 | 5.679,23 | |
MINTOS | 5.731,15 | 94,19 | 1.712,90 | 7.444,05 | |
VIVENTOR | 7.113,84 | 63,50 | 1.049,66 | 8.163,50 | |
IBAN WALLET | 3.000,00 | 0,50 | 0,50 | 3.000,50 | |
ROBOCASH | 1.089,93 | 6,59 | 16,66 | 1.106,59 | |
BRICKSTARTER | 50,00 | 15,00 | 15,00 | 65,00 | |
CROWDESTOR | 100,00 | 0,27 | 0,27 | 100,27 | |
LENNDY | 100,00 | 10,00 | 10,00 | 110,00 | |
FINBEE | 90,87 | 0,50 | 4,86 | 95,73 | |
NEOFINANCE | 100,00 | 1,15 | 24,86 | 124,86 | |
MONESTRO | 50,00 | 1,00 | 3,00 | 53,00 | |
CROWDESTATE | 255,13 | 13,99 | 48,61 | 302,50 | |
BULKESTATE | 550,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | 550,00 | |
EKASSA | 14,56 | 0,00 | 0,44 | 15,00 | |
PEERBERRY | 69,73 | 0,76 | 4,31 | 73,89 | |
DOFINANCE | 100,00 | 0,99 | 4,39 | 104,39 | |
ESTATEGURU | 100,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | 100,00 | |
VIAINVEST | 51,90 | 0,31 | 4,54 | 56,44 | |
REINVEST24 | 100,00 | 0,00 | -2,00 | 98,00 | |
DEBITUM | 250,00 | 2,00 | 2,74 | 252,74 | |
COINBASE | 20,00 | -1,60 | 22,35 | 40,75 | |
BULLIONVAULT | 1.038,28 | 55,85 | 245,00 | 1283,28 | |
BONDORA | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,50 | 0,00 | |
FLENDER | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | |
RENDITY | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | |
PROFITUS | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | |
COINLOAN | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | |
BITBOND | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | |
PREPAYWAY | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 | |
TOTAL | 35.108,51 | 468,79 | 4.176,47 | 37.998,21 |
To get a comparative analysis based on my personal opinion about multiple other platforms, please check my P2P lending platforms comparison page.
N26, Revolut and Transferwise
I’m really happy with the way N26 Account simplified my portfolio management. With all the transactions between P2P platforms, it would be impossible for me to manage without the simple interface N26 offers. I highly recommend it!
My decision to follow the 3 buckets account approach is working:
- One bank account for my daily expenses: Revolut;
- One for my savings and emergency funds: National Traditional Bank;
- N26 account to manage my P2P Investments.
This approach, combined with the use of Transferwise when I need to exchange currencies is simplifying my life and increasing visibility over all my transactions.
P2P Lending Portfolio Performance
Since I first started investing in P2P lending, my returns from crowdlending totals €3.914,98 (€368,07 in interest during July 2019).
I’m truly impressed with the impact of compounding interest in the growth of my P2P portfolio.
Kuetzal
A slow month for Kuetzal. No new projects available, but if you want to start investing, you still have time to do so in the investment opportunities that remain open.
I continue to add funds to my Kuetzal account. I want to remind that Kuetzal is currently promoting their Summer Cashback Marathon for all investors:
Kuetzal SUMMER CASHBACK MARATHON
This is a special offer to get a bonus after each of your investments. It works independently of all other promotions on the platform. It is applied to all active projects. The campaign is available until the end of August.
You need to invest the displayed amount into just one project to get the cashback. Amounts lower to the threshold value don’t qualify for cashback.
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get a 0.5% cashback on all your investments in Kuetzal during the first 180 days.
Check my Kuetzal account here.
Monethera
Monethera is the most recent player to join the P2P business lending ecosystem. You can invest in real estate projects, business loans, green energy, logistics or technology companies and earn up to 22% per year in interest. The minimum deposit is €100 and the minimum investment required is €1.
Monethera offers among the best interest rates in the business with buyback guarantee.
From the moment you invest in a Monethera project, you immediately start receiving interest. Monethera presents a unique approach among the P2P platforms I know: all investors receive interest payments on the first day of each month. This allows you to reinvest interest right away at the beginning of the month.
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get €5 and 0.5% cashback from all investments you make within the first 90 days.
Check my initial review on Monethera and details on my account here.
Envestio
The Envestio team released 1 project during July! I’m sure they are quite busy finalizing their contracts with the new partner. After my conversation with the Envestio representatives at the P2P Conference, I’m expecting progress in September.
At the end of July, the Envestio team released one of the most demanded and expected features by the investor’s community: auto-invest! I’m quite sure it is a big moment for many investors that missed projects in the past, but I’m sure this will continue to be an issue until a growing number of projects becomes available.
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get a 5€ bonus when you deposit at least 100€. In addition, you will also get a 0.5% cashback on all your investments in Envestio during the first 270 days.
Check my Envestio account here.
FastInvest
Smooth month in my FastInvest position. Small investment increment, small return increment.
Interesting updates from FastInvest regarding the platform growth, but I’m still waiting to learn about the platform loan originators. This is critical information to allow me to increase my investments in FastInvest.
You can sign up to FastInvest and invest through my referral link.
Check my FastInvest account here.
Grupeer
My returns from Grupeer continue their steady growth and I consider it among the most reliable fixed interest returns assets I owned.
Grupeer shared an update regarding the July progress and the numbers show that Grupeer is establishing the reputation as one of the Top European P2P Crowdlending Platforms: deal count increased by 10%, while the amount invested increased by 4% with Portugal reaching the Top 3 registrations in the platform.
Grupeer Bank Account Issues
Earlier at the beginning of August, it became evident that the Lithuanian Central Bank had suspended the operations of Satchelpay (source), which Grupeer used as one of the two ways for deposits by investors.
From that moment onwards, Grupeer asked investors to use the alternative deposit method via the Baltic International Bank and shared that they will add new payment providers soon.
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get 1.25% cashback on all your investments in Grupeer during the first 6 months.
Check my Grupeer account here.
Mintos
I decided to reduce my position on Mintos until I reach a balanced portfolio distribution. Even if I’m happy with my returns from the platform, it is important to diversify across P2P platforms.
My Mintos portfolio returns will continue to drop based on my consistent withdraw of funds (funds withdraw for cross P2P platform diversification and focus on loans with maturity up to 4 months).
Mintos Updates
July as marked by the Loan Originators review update performed by Mintos at the beginning of the month. A note here to highlight the absence of Aforti Finance that I will discuss later. You can find the associated post here.
Mintos Loan Originator Issue: Aforti Finance
Back in March 2019, Mintos downgraded Aforti Finance rating as loan originator from B to C+. AT the time, Mintos decision was mainly driven by the adverse changes in the mood on the Polish securitization and bond market which makes it difficult for many companies to refinance their debts. Mintos also shared that the decision was also influenced by insights into changes in the company’s internal arrangements.
No additional information was provided.
At the beginning of August, Viventor alerted its investors that repayments from the loan originator Aforti Finance would be on hold in order to secure investors positions. Right after this information become public, Mintos published a blog post informing of the suspension of automatic repayments and buybacks of Aforti Finance loans on Mintos.
After an initial meeting between Mintos and Aforti Finance, no additional information was provided. The current situation for Mintos investors is the following:
Current total outstanding portfolio by Aforti Finance on the Mintos marketplace is EUR 2 236 123. In total 21,896 investors have an outstanding investment in loans originated by Aforti Finance, which translates to slightly more than EUR 100 on average per investor.
Source: Mintos Blog Post
Investors still hold claims towards the end borrowers who make their payments to Aforti Finance, and we expect Aforti Finance to get back on track with passing borrower repayments to us for distributing among investors. As of today, 57.3% of loans originated by Aforti Finance that are outstanding on the Mintos marketplace are current, 24.9% are late by 1-15 days, 10.1% are late by 16-30 days, and 7.7% of loans are late by 31-60 days.
I will keep a close eye on this topic. Again, it is clear that all investors should follow the best practices to secure their investments. Check how here.
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get a 1% cashback bonus on all your investments in Mintos during the first 90 days.
Check my Mintos account here.
Viventor
I decided to reduce my position on Viventor until I reach a balanced portfolio distribution. Even if I’m happy with my returns from the platform, it is important to diversify across P2P platforms.
Viventor Update: New company CEO
In July Viventor welcomed the new CEO: Andrius Bolšaitis. He has taken over as CEO of Viventor from July 22. Mr. Bolšaitis has replaced Toms Niparts, who is starting his own new startup. You can find the associated post here.
I don’t know what to expect from this change, but in any case, I will wait for future developments and keep my strategy of balancing my portfolio across P2P platforms, which means withdraws in the case of Viventor.
Viventor Loan Originator Issue: Aforti Finance
Viventor was the first P2P platform to publicly acknowledge problems with Aforti Finance loans. They alerted investors through a visual marker within the platform that was quite effective to trigger a significant sale of Aforti loans in the secondary market, both in Viventor and Mintos, until negotiation was suspended.
It is clear that P2P platforms need to be more transparent about this type of information to investors and keep strong controls on their loan originators.
You can sign up and invest in Viventor through my referral link.
Check my Viventor account here.
iban Wallet
iban Wallet is a fintech startup that follows an asset-backed loan investment model similar to Robocash: black box loan investing. This means that you don’t know the loans that are receiving your investment, you are only able to select the investment tier and duration.
You can invest and earn your interest daily from 2.5% up to 6% per year, being able to deposit and withdraw money daily. The minimum deposit and investment amount required is €1.
iban Wallet offers among the lower interest rates in the business. The highlights of iban Wallet are: interest payments on a daily basis and you can deposit and request withdrawals when need to (without any charge). This was the particular element that called my attention, a fixed return with immediate liquidity.
You can sign up and invest through my referral link you can join the referral program and get €25 for every invitee that invests more than €1000.
Check my initial review on iban Wallet and details on my account here.
Robocash
In the previous update, I shared my frustration to start seeing the returns from my investments in Robocash, since capital and interest are paid at the end of the loan term. However, one of the aspects that call my attention was that the volume of overdue loans for the dimension of my small portfolio was significant (~37% by the end of July).
Based on this and the slow process to withdraw funds from Robocash, I decided to start that process and reduce my position over time. This decision will impact the income from Robocash over the next few months.
Robocash did not publish any report regarding the July 2019 numbers, but in one of their blog posts, the results of an investor questionary were shared, with interesting insights towards P2P investor profiles across Europe.
The post shares that the strategy of Robocash P2P investors depends on their mentality, socio-economic and geographic aspects. The survey revealed that investors from Central Europe tend to make long-term plans ~50% of them invest in P2P lending to prepare for retirement. In the meantime, investors from South European countries are more focused on quick results.
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get a %1 bonus on all your investments in Robocash during the first 3 months.
Check my Robocash account here.
Other P2P Platforms Updates
FinBee
Check my FinBee account here.
NeoFinance
If you create an account and invest in NeoFinance using my referral link, you gain 25€ as a sign-up bonus.
Check my NeoFinance account here.
Monestro
Check my Monestro account here.
Crowdestate
Crowdestate just published its second quarter report. Find it here.
Check my Crowdestate account here.
Bulkestate
Bulkestate has an investment opportunity available now.
Check my BulkEstate account here.
Ekassa
Check my Ekassa account here.
PeerBerry
PeerBerry shared an update regarding their key Loan Originator, answering concerns after Aforti Finance news this week.
Check my PeerBerry account here.
DoFinance
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you enjoy VIP status offer which gives an extra 1% yield on all your investments in DoFinance during the first 3 months.
Check my DoFinance account here.
EstateGuru
EstateGuru just launched their first project in Portugal! Portugal represents the platform’s sixth operating country, thereby increasing the list of countries where investors can diversify their real estate investments in.
EstateGuru also shared a complete overview of their current loan portfolio, answering the community request for more information. Check the report here.
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get gain 0.5% cashback on every investment made on EstateGuru over the initial 3 months through my referral link.
Check my EstateGuru account here.
ViaInvest
Here you can find ViaInvest statistics for July 2019:
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get €10 bonus after your first investment of €50 in ViaInvest.
Check my ViaInvest account here.
ReInvest24
No relevant updates on ReInvest24 this month. I must confess that I like the idea, but I’m missing money every single month. I could be using €100 euros invested in a much more productive manner.
You can create your ReInvest24 account using this link.
Check my ReInvest24 account here.
Debitum Network
Debitum reported broken records in three instances: the number of investments, the number of users, and the amount invested using an auto-invest tool.
Starting next week, Debitum will make available the version 2.0 of their platform, that I can confirm is an improvement.
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get €10 bonus after your first investment of €250 in Debitum.
Check my Debitum account here.
Coinbase
If you sign up and invest through my referral link, you will get €9 bonus after your first investment of €90 in Coinbase.
Check my Coinbase account here.
BullionVault
You can create a BullionVault account using this link.
Check my BullionVault account here.
Flender
If you want to diversify across geography, Flender allows you to invest in business loans from Ireland.
You can create a Flender account using this link and gain 5% cashback in all your investments for the first 120 days. Interests ~9% per annum.
Rendity
If you want to diversify across geography, Rendity allows you to invest in real estate loans from Austria.
You can create a Rendity account using this link and gain €25 as a sign-up bonus. Interests ~7% per annum.
Profitus
If you want to diversify across geography, Profitus allows you to invest in real estate loans from Lithuania.
You can create a Profitus account using this link and gain €9 as a sign-up bonus plus 1% in cashback during the first 30 days. Interests ~10% per annum.
Coinloan
If you want to diversify with crypto-backed assets, Coinloan allows you to invest in this type of loans.
You can create a Coinloan account using this link and gain 1% in cashback during the first 90 days. Interests ~11% per annum.
Bitbond
If you want to diversify with crypto asset loans across the globe, Bitbond allows you to invest in this type of loans.
You can create a Bitbond account using this link. Interests ~13% per annum.
PrepayWay
In July PrepayWay announced new terms and conditions for their InBit token sale, with 50% discount until August 15th. Briefly: new hardcap, new distribution, changes in presale strategy.
You can check these conditions and join the InBit token sale using this link.
Bondora
Bondora presents a very strange and problematic type of offer. No transparency what so ever… I don’t have the possibility to control where and how my funds are employed.
On July they reported record-high investments in Bondora. Over €15M. You can check this information on the image below.
Bondora is a long-term investment. It will take months or years to see returns, with a risk proportional to the interests, so it will take months before obtaining results that are desirable enough. If for any reason you’d need to leave Bondora and transfer your money back to your bank account, this is logically possible. But take into consideration that getting your money back might take a few months or even much longer if you don’t want to have significant losses.
You can create a Bondora account using this link.
Check my Bondora account here.
Now you understand the reason why I need to focus my P2P investments on fewer platforms!
S4F Next Steps
I will continue to concentrate my P2P lending efforts into my top P2P lending platforms choices but continue to test new P2P Crowdlending platforms in order to assure that I’m maximizing my potential returns! The next ones I will assess are Crowdestor, Brickstarter, and Lenndy. I will add my opinion in the near future.
This is all about July!
Thank you so much to all that are sharing opinions, comments, and suggestions with me over the email ([email protected]). I’m always looking for ways to improve the blog and my investment strategy.
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