September 2021:inflated inflation in eurozone

Last month inflation in the eurozone rose to 3.4% on an annual basis, the highest level since 2008. Now you are probably wondering what that has to do with investing.. Well, nothing directly of course, but indirectly? Certainly.

All investors try to get a nice return, or rather try to grow their money so that they can do more with that money. And inflation works against that. And that means that if you now achieve a return rate of 3.4%, your capital growth will actually come to a standstill. Only when you achieve a higher return rate do you actually achieve what you want as an investor.

Of course you should not just invest blindly, and putting your money in a savings account is much safer. But it’s good to know that the money you put in a savings account has actually shrunk by more than 3% over a year. Fortunately, inflation is likely to fall again once the effects of the corona pandemic are over.

This month another platform has received the IBF license (Investment Brokerage Firm). For myself, I have been using a general maximum limit that I want to invest per platform for a while, and a lower limit for platforms that I consider to be high risk. Now that more and more platforms are becoming licensed, I will think about these limits in the near future. I’m not going to increase the maximum, but I think I’m going to use a lower limit for platforms that are not licensed. I think the lack of a license (and the accompanying increased supervision by the government) is also more and more a kind of risk.

Portfolio overview September 2021

Last month my portfolio increased by € 3,330.59 and my average rate of return over all platforms is 13.0%. The table below shows the details for each category.

Passive income per month

The extreme highs and lows on the stock market prevent me from adequately determine the passive income that my investments can generate when I stop working. That is why I now calculate the 6-month moving average of my passive income.

You can find my definition of passive income on my portfolio page.

Activities

To show you how little effort is involved when investing via crowdfunding and crowdlending I have added an overview of the manual actions in the last month:

I did check the platforms every now and then, but this was purely for fun. It wasn’t necessary to get these interest payments and return rates.

Crowdlending

I have grouped by P2P platforms into two groups, one containing all platforms based in Western Europe and one containing all platforms based in Eastern Europe. In the table below you can see the balance between them.

Crowdlending (west)

 Flender

At Flender a loan has been repaid in full, and there is again almost 300 euros available to be invested by the auto-invest. I do not want to invest in projects that run longer than 24 months, and also only in loans with risk classes B to A+. I have disabled investing in loans with a medium or higher risk. The auto-invest doesn’t have to invest in every available project, I’m fine with not investing every now and then and the auto-invest waiting for lower risk opportunities.

My investments at Flender returned € 21.82 last month, and my average return rate is now 7.1%.

 Funding Circle NL

This month, two projects at Funding Circle NL have been fully paid off, and of the 7 in which I invested, 3 are still open. My outstanding amount has now fallen below 1000 euros for the first time.

It also continues to fall because private individuals can no longer make new investments via this platform. A pity, because the return of 8.7% is ticking nicely. The last three projects all fall into the somewhat safer A and B risk class, and are now over halfway through repayment. The remaining term is still 24 months, so this platform is still in my portfolio for the time being.

My investments at Funding Circle NL returned € 7.88 last month, and my average return rate is now 8.7%.

 Lender & Spender

My investments at Lender & Spender returned € 10.63 last month, and my average return rate is now 3.8%.

 Max Crowdfund

At Max Crowdfund you still have to be quick. Yesterday two projects from the UK were added and they were full within 6 minutes:

Both projects needed less than 40 investors to be financed, so they are investing heavily. Fortunately, a much larger project from Germany will be available in a few days, hopefully I can invest in it then.

My investments at Max Crowdfund returned € 6.56 last month, and my average return rate is now 2.8%.

Crowdlending (east)

 Bondora

Net returns at Bondora have been declining slowly but steadily over the past few months. But, luckily this week I saw that the weather had increased slightly from 7.9% to 8%. That’s a great development, as Bondora’s margins would likely come under pressure as yields approach 6.75%. That is the (maximum) return you get when you invest via the Go&Grow option, and Bondora has to pay that interest from somewhere.

At Bondora Go&Grow you can in principle always withdraw your money at any time, and combined with a return of 6.75%, this is of course very attractive for investors. With most other options and platforms, your money is blocked for a long time while investing. It is of course not as safe as a savings account, after all it continues to invest, but being able to get your money back as quickly as possible ensures that I invest a little more confidently here.

My investments at Bondora returned € 18.98 last month, and my average return rate is now 6.8%.

 Brickstarter

My investments at Brickstarter returned € 8.94 last month, and my average return rate is now 5.0%.

 Bulkestate

My investments at Bulkestate returned € 5.83 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.8%.

 Crowdestate

My investments at Crowdestate returned € 28.63 last month, and my average return rate is now 9.7%.

 Crowdestor

Payments are trickling in at Crowdestor, the free amount is now 42 euros. As I have written before, I find this a very high risk platform for investors, promised interest rates of 20%-30% I do not see as realistic and at the very least very risky.

That’s why I want to withdraw a significant part of my money here. In January I expect a large repayment, until then it will mainly be smaller (interest) payments that I will withdraw if it exceeds 100 to 200 euros.

My investments at Crowdestor returned € 5.97 last month, and my average return rate is now 16.3%.

 EstateGuru

EstateGuru has published the audited annual figures for 2020. I noticed the last two pages were missing, with the accountant’s signatures and report. I have asked EstateGuru for the entire document, but have not yet received it. After all, it’s the weekend there too. In any case, it is good to see that EstateGuru has become profitable in 2020, in 2019 there was still a loss due to the investments.

At the same time, they also announced the figures for the first half of this year. A growth of 180% compared to the first half of last year is of course very nice, although the dip in Q2 last year due to Covid also influences this. But luckily, the numbers show that EstateGuru has regularly broken records since then.

Other investors are also enthusiastic, EstateGuru’s second campaign on crowdfunding platform Seedrs reached its maximum after only 4 out of 40 days, raising 260% of the target amount. Very nice, especially because it increased the value of my investment by 55% (I invested during the first round on Seedrs last year).

My investments at EstateGuru returned € 25.64 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.0%.

 EvoEstate

At EvoEstate the free amount has increased to 94 euros, but the minimum investment amount here is 100 euros. The 100 euros will probably be reached next month, and then the auto-invest will be activated again. With 16 open projects spread over 9 connected platforms, it will undoubtedly find an opportunity.

My investments at EvoEstate returned € 3.23 last month, and my average return rate is now 5.4%.

 Fast Invest

Despite promises and announcements, Fast Invest still does not transfer the money withdrawn. This has been going on for months now so I think this platform is really not ok. I may even have to think about writing it off. If you have any doubts about it, I would definitely stay away from it.

My investments at Fast Invest returned € 0.76 last month, and my average return rate is now 12.3%.

 Grupeer

Grupeer’s website remains active, but nothing else happens and investors still can’t access their money. Don’t even come close as an investor.

Last month my account value at Grupeer did not change, and my average return rate is now 6.9%.

 Iuvo

Last month my account value at Iuvo did not change, and my average return rate is now 7.9%.

 Mintos

My investments at Mintos returned € 79.20 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.4%.

 NEO Finance

My investments at NEO Finance returned € 4.56 last month, and my average return rate is now 2.3%.

 PeerBerry

As of October 1, PeerBerry will move from Lithuania to Croatia. Only the registration address will move, the headquarters will remain in Vilnius for the time being. Croatia has been a member of the European Union since 2013, so PeerBerry continues to fall under the European rules.

Nothing will change for investors, only each investor must accept the corresponding changes to the terms and conditions and privacy policy if they want to continue investing. If you invest here it is therefore important to log in quickly, you will then receive a popup with the changes and the option to accept them. Then check your auto-invest to make sure it’s turned on.

My investments at PeerBerry returned € 9.00 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.5%.

 Reinvest24

Reinvest24 has published the hundredth project. This platform was launched in 2018 and in the beginning the projects became available sparsely, but last month 10 more have already been added. Usually these are ‘sub-projects’ (internships), but this is also nice: I would rather see a large project financed in pieces than a huge amount of money being borrowed in advance. In this way, your money is also less secured and there is also more control in between.

Reinvest24 has a promotion for new investors until 30 November. If you invest at least 500 euros within 30 days, you will receive a bonus of 25 euros to 200 euros. You should never be tempted by bonuses, but if you already planned it, this is of course a plus.

My investments at Reinvest24 returned € 17.45 last month, and my average return rate is now 5.9%.

 Robocash

Robocash has released the audited figures of the Robocash Group for the first half of this year. The total performance of the entire group is important, because this includes all lenders and the total group guarantees all loans. Both the investment and the accrued interest are reimbursed if a loan is more than 30 days behind in payment.

With a net profit of more than $15 million, up 43.9% from the first half of 2020, Robocash appears to be very financially sound and well placed to execute on the guarantees. That gives me as an investor a good feeling, although that is probably also partly due to the return of 12% that I get here.

My investments at Robocash returned € 15.10 last month, and my average return rate is now 12.4%.

 TFG Crowd

Last month my account value at TFG Crowd did not change, and my average return rate is now 15.3%.

 TWINO

My investments at TWINO returned € 17.01 last month, and my average return rate is now 9.7%.

 Viainvest

Yesterday Viainvest announced that they have obtained the “investment brokerage firm” (IBF) license. Tighter supervision, more transparency, stricter rules, all things that make investors very happy. And if the platform collapses, you can get up to 20,000 euros back from the government via the investor compensation system. Current investments are so-called claim rights, which are not yet covered by the investor compensation system. Over the next 6 months, the investments will be converted into regulated Notes, which are covered by this.

I do not see the fact that current investments are not covered by the guarantee system as a problem. The VIA SMS group, which Viainvest falls under, is financially healthy and I think it can fulfill the buyback guarantees if necessary.

My investments at Viainvest returned € 22.90 last month, and my average return rate is now 11.9%.

Crowdfunding

 CrowdAboutNow

At CrowdAboutNow I invested for the first time in a loan, instead of a stock campaign. It concerns the Tilburg brewery LOC Brewery:

It concerns a loan of 5 years, at an interest of 4%. As with my investment in Beer in a Box, this also comes with a nice reward:

Last month my account value at CrowdAboutNow did not change, and my average return rate is still 0.0%.

 Crowdcube

Last month my account value at Crowdcube did not change, and my average return rate is still 0.0%.

 Seedrs

The value of my [seerds] account fluctuates from month to month, but that is due to exchange rates (some investments are in British Pounds). Sometimes the value of a share is adjusted, last month the value of my one share in EstateGuru increased from 2333 euros to 3607 euros. This month the stock split, so now I have 100 stocks worth $36.07 each.

Last month my account value at Seedrs decreased by € 125.24, and my average return rate is now 9.8%.

Stock

 DEGIRO

My investments at DEGIRO returned € 33.00 last month, and my average return rate is now 37.6%.

 ING

This month I deposited another $100 into my ING investment account, and bought two silver ETFs and a World ETF. From the relationship between the values of my economy and precious metals ETFs, I can clearly see that the silver price is falling and the economy is rising. Last June I did my ‘rebalancing’, and my ratio was again 50%-50%. I invest $50 a month in both categories, and in the past three months the ratio has changed to 52%-48%. I’m curious how ‘skewed’ the ratio can grow in a year, but I’ll see next year when I rebalance again.

This month I also received a 10 euros in dividend from my AEX ETF. Such a ‘gift’ every quarter is a nice bonus, on an annual basis that is about 1 to 2 percent extra return.

Last month my account value at ING decreased by € 105.67, and my average return rate is now 10.2%.

 Saxo Bank

My ETF in oil (LOIL) at Saxo Bank has risen sharply in value last month. This has ensured that after two months of decline my Saxo Bank account is now at its highest level ever. I think I will continue to sell a portion of my LOIL ETF for the foreseeable future to cash in on this profit.

My investments at Saxo Bank returned € 3,218.41 last month, and my average return rate is now 96.7%.

And finally…

That was it for this monthly update. You can subscribe via the contact page and you’ll receive an email the moment a new update is published. Or just visit again next month, that’s up to you.

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Disclaimer: I share my experiences on this site, and blog about my results and things I encounter. It is for informational purposes only and cannot be considered professional advice. Investments bring risk and you should never invest funds that you are not willing to lose. I think my site is a nice start, but do your own research and make sure you understand the risks before you start to invest yourself. You can read more about this here.