October 2021:35% platforms with license

It now seems to be going fairly fast with the number of platforms that have a license. Just over a third of the platforms in my portfolio, and two even with an Electronic Money Institution license.

Having such a license does not offer 100% protection, but due to the stricter supervision and requirements of the financial regulators, I think it is safer to invest via platforms that are licensed. That is why I will also check in the near future whether I can also clearly indicate in my monthly updates which platforms have a license and which do not.

I use two limits for myself in terms of maximum investment per platform: max 2500 euros for platforms that I consider to be high risk, and max 5000 euros for platforms that I attribute a somewhat lower risk. Now that the number of licensed platforms is increasing, I will use the lower limit for all platforms without a license. It may take some time to complete this, but on the other hand, it also gives me some more time to decide whether I want to invest the money withdrawn in new (Western European) platforms or not.

Portfolio overview October 2021

Last month my portfolio increased by € 6,215.25 and my average rate of return over all platforms is 14.0%. 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)

In the table and paragraphs below you can see which platforms make up my “Western Europe group”.

 Flender

At Flender the free amount has increased to 260 euros. Apparently there are fewer projects available for the auto-invest in the least risky categories (A to B). But I don’t mind, I’d rather go for less risk than to chase for everything to always be invested.

And 250 euros were invested at the beginning of October, so if a nice project comes along it will be invested again in no time. And fully automatically, without having to keep an eye out myself. Exactly the way I like to invest.

My investments at Flender returned € 21.56 last month, and my average return rate is now 7.1%.

 Funding Circle NL

Funding Circle NL no longer accepts private investments, so my account value will continue to decrease automatically here. Interest and repayment is deposited into my bank account every month.

My investments at Funding Circle NL returned € 6.39 last month, and my average return rate is now 8.7%.

 Lender & Spender

My return on Lender & Spender fluctuates a bit between 3.8 and 3.9 percent. And that is actually quite nice for a platform that automatically spreads your investments over a lot of loans. My investment of 3477 euros is currently divided over 3280 loans, so that is an average of € 1.06 per loan.

With so little in each loan, the damage isn’t as great if a loan defaults. And that doesn’t happen very often, since I started here in 2018 a total of only € 22.34 has been written off.

That’s of course also because this platform is located in the Netherlands and Dutch consumers appear to be very reliable borrowers. That is why, despite the somewhat lower return, this is one of my favorite platforms. And the return is actually quite good if you compare it with a savings account.

My investments at Lender & Spender returned € 10.84 last month, and my average return rate is now 3.8%.

 Max Crowdfund

At the beginning of October I was able to invest the last 100 euros of my 1000 euros deposit in a German project at 10% interest. The free amount is now 23 euros, which is the interest I have received since February. Now it will take a while before I can invest, because the invested amount must be a multiple of 100 euro.

My investments at Max Crowdfund returned € 5.43 last month, and my average return rate is now 3.2%.

Crowdlending (east)

In the table and paragraphs below you can see which platforms make up my “Eastern Europe group”.

 Bondora

Bondora now has a separate app for Go & Grow. An overview, withdraw and add money. Nice and simple. No worries, maximum 6.75% interest and (normally) your money can be withdrawn at any time. What more does an investor want.

Bondora is licensed by the Estonian financial authorities and is also regulated by the regulators in Finland. Of course this is investing, so it is not without risk (something you should always take into account).

My investments at Bondora returned € 20.36 last month, and my average return rate is now 6.8%.

 Brickstarter

This month my return rate at Brickstarter exceeded 5% for the first time after 2 years. In the last few months I also received significantly more interest/dividend than the months before, so I think the return rate will continue to rise to a percentage of 6 or 7.

My investments at Brickstarter returned € 11.35 last month, and my average return rate is now 5.1%.

 Bulkestate

At Bulkestate, the total value of my account has suddenly decreased by 300 euros, while this is not apparent from the transactions. There is also no notice of a charge:

It has happened before that there was an unexpected deviation that was corrected again the following month, but you can of course rely on the fact that it is clear at any time what the current value of your account is. I asked them for clarification.

Last month my account value at Bulkestate decreased by € 300.21, and my average return rate is now 6.7%.

 Crowdestate

For the first time, I have now suffered a loss on an investment at Crowdestate. At the beginning of 2019 I invested 100 euros in the Global Nord Timber (V) project and that project has now defaulted. In the beginning I did receive a number of payments, so my total loss comes down to 81 euros.

My two investments in “The Frame, Marina di Massa, Toscana” (worth 400 euros) have also been written off this month, but luckily I had already received more repayments and interest payments for these two projects. I have not received the entire principal back, but this has been compensated by the interest received. As a result I still made almost 57 euros profit.

So despite the loss, I’m still quite happy with this platform, and my return has dipped but is still slightly above 9%. And it’s a nice reminder that investing always has certain risks, luckily I don’t have that much trouble now.

Last month my account value at Crowdestate decreased by € 74.09, and my average return rate is now 9.1%.

 Crowdestor

7 out of 10 projects I’ve invested in at Crowdestor are behind on payments. Money is coming in little by little, about 13 euros this month. So it will take a while to withdraw a considerable amount here. I see this platform as high risk, so I want to scale it down to a much lower level.

The value in Crowdestor Flex continues to increase slowly, money that you deposit here currently yields 12% interest and you can in principle withdraw it at any time. In that respect it is a bit like Bondora Go&Grow and IuvoUP. Although the guarantees are only worth something if the platform doesn’t run into problems (Crowdestor keeps a buffer of 10-20% to be able to process withdrawals).

My investments at Crowdestor returned € 14.85 last month, and my average return rate is now 16.1%.

 EstateGuru

EstateGuru is one of the more stable platforms in my portfolio, with returns hovering around 10%. Investing in real estate with the associated mortgage guarantees gives me the feeling that it is not a high-risk platform, but still I let the auto-invest only invest in the projects with the lowest risks: covered by a first-class mortgage and an LTV of max 65%.

Because I have a good feeling about it, I also invested in the platform itself via Seedrs a while ago, and I now have 100 shares. Which have become worth about 50% more since the investment, so I’m happy with this platform in that way too.

My investments at EstateGuru returned € 29.40 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.0%.

 EvoEstate

In the past quarter, 700 investors joined EvoEstate, the total is now slightly above 6000. The number of available projects has also increased considerably compared to the quarter and the year before. There are now 16 P2P platforms affiliated with EvoEstate, and with an EvoEstate account you can invest in projects that are on those other platforms without having to have an account there. This way you can easily spread your risks, although EvoEstate itself offers no guarantees. But no investment is risk-free. And if the affiliated platforms offer guarantees that also applies for investments via EvoEstate. EvoEstate itself adds its own risk analysis to the projects they select, they do not just publish all available projects.

My investments at EvoEstate returned € 3.64 last month, and my average return rate is now 5.2%.

 Fast Invest

Fast Invest is still having trouble transferring withdrawals. They indicate that this is due to late payments by borrowers, but of course this is not true for the money that has not been invested. Most of my account value is now marked as “available to invest”, but can’t be withdrawn? Then something is really wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if this also becomes a platform to write off.

My investments at Fast Invest returned € 0.55 last month, and my average return rate is now 12.2%.

 Grupeer

Grupeer’s website remains active, but nothing else happens and investors still can’t access their money. So 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 6.7%.

 Iuvo

Iuvo has introduced iuvoUP, an alternative to regular investing in loans (now called iuvoP2P). It’s a bit like Bondora Go & Grow and Crowdestor Flex: you deposit your money and can withdraw or top up at any time. You will have the money withdrawn within 2 days.

There are two choices: “Start” with an interest rate of 3% and a maturity of 6 months, and “Progress” with an interest rate of 4% and a maturity of 12 months. But you can withdraw your money at any time and keep the interest accrued up to that point.

It says both “You can add funds and withdraw at any time” and “You can withdraw or add new funds within 6 or 12 months”. I am all for investing where you can withdraw your money at any time, especially if that includes the interest accrued up to that point. And Iuvo has a ‘financial institution license’, which also counts. But I don’t quite see why you have to choose between 3% or 4% interest. I would of course opt for the higher interest rate if I can withdraw it at any time with interest. Unless you can withdraw your money anytime after those 6 or 12 months, but that is again contradicted by “withdraw at any time”. Something to check out next month.

My investments at Iuvo returned € 0.01 last month, and my average return rate is now 7.8%.

 Mintos

Mintos sends regular updates on the spread of your investments:

I like that, platforms that proactively provide information to help you invest better. It also helps that Mintos is by far the largest P2P platform in Europe, they are even 4 times the size of the number two.

The fact that they recently received both the investment firm license and the Electronic Money Institution licenses also does a lot for confidence. Even here it applies that you should not just blindly throw money at it, make sure that your auto-invest diversifies enough.

My investments at Mintos returned € 61.58 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.5%.

 NEO Finance

As of January 1, 2022, NEO Finance will charge costs for accounts that are inactive: € 0.99 per month. As soon as you have even 1 small investment, you are already active, so it is only relevant for people who still have an amount here and do nothing with it anymore.

My investments at NEO Finance returned € 17.83 last month, and my average return rate is now 2.6%.

 PeerBerry

PeerBerry is getting about 1,600 new investors a month, and it now finances about $55 million a month in loans.

Not only does each originator guarantee the payback of their loans, but the entire group does. This platform is also growing very quickly, in the graph below you can see that the amount of outstanding loans has increased explosively since 2017:

My investments at PeerBerry returned € 9.32 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.4%.

 Reinvest24

Next week two of the Albisoara development projects will be repaid at Reinvest24. There are currently 3 available projects on the site to invest in, so I will of course keep an eye on that.

KIRSAN, a real estate developer of which three projects have already appeared on Reinvest24, has invested in Reinvest24 and now owns 18% of it. I’m curious if we will notice something of this, of course I hope that the upcoming projects of KIRSAN will be screened as well as before.

My investments at Reinvest24 returned € 17.93 last month, and my average return rate is now 6.0%.

 Robocash

Also Robocash remains popular with investors and continues to set records.

All originators belong to the same group, and the Robocash platform itself belongs to this group as well. Everything under one roof, and the entire group guarantees all loans and will buy back the loan with the accrued interest in the event of late payments after 30 days.

My investments at Robocash returned € 21.87 last month, and my average return rate is now 12.8%.

 TFG Crowd

TFG Crowd added business accounts a while ago, and now states that as of November 2021, private individuals will no longer be able to make new investments. Existing loans are handled as usual, although there are now quite a few that, according to the platform, are in trouble and they are going to take measures to get the money back. As an investor you will now regularly receive a popup when logging in where they ask whether you agree with the associated costs. This is not done via the platform itself, but via Google Forms:

A bit primitive if you ask me, and I also wonder if it’s not a way of trying to get out of the business unscathed (or without refunding money)…

Last month my account value at TFG Crowd did not change, and my average return rate is now 14.9%.

 TWINO

Also TWINO now has the investment brokerage license, but the protection this offers for investors will only take effect once they have switched investments from claims to regulated notes.

In the second half of next year, Twino also hopes to be able to offer other products such as bonds and ETFs.

My investments at TWINO returned € 16.05 last month, and my average return rate is now 9.7%.

 Viainvest

Viainvest is going to remove their app from the AppStore and PlayMarket, because they have to adapt it now that they have also received their Investment Brokerage Firm license. Thanks to that license, they will now also check the identity of investors who have not yet done so.

My investments at Viainvest returned € 24.81 last month, and my average return rate is now 11.9%.

Crowdfunding

 CrowdAboutNow

The LOC Brewery 2021 loan has reached the target amount, so my investment in this loan will be finalized shortly. It will take a while before the first interest is paid, but they are going the contact the investors soon for the rewards: a T-shirt, glass and some beer, plus 4 tickets for a tour and tasting. A nice little bonus.

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

A significant increase in my account value of Seedrs, but this is purely because the British Pound has risen in value and many of my investments have been made in British Pounds.

My investments at Seedrs returned € 501.52 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.4%.

Stock

 DEGIRO

My portfolio at DEGIRO has also grown considerably in the past month. All stock markets worldwide have shown a significant increase.

In addition, I received some dividend again, $6.05 from Credicorp Ltd. Not much maybe, but every little bit helps. And it is nice to have shares that regularly pay dividends, then you also have some income without having to sell your shares.

My investments at DEGIRO returned € 1,319.22 last month, and my average return rate is now 38.8%.

 ING

ING has finally added ETFs in precious metals again. The choice is very limited compared to other exchange platforms, but now it has become a little less annoying. You now have a choice of two ‘physical gold’ ETFs, 3 ‘physical silver’ ETFs, and 3 ‘mixed precious metals’ ETFs. Limited, but enough to keep my 50-50 strategy going.

I put half of my investments in ETFs that track the economy. This month I added a new one: AMUNDI PRIME EUROPE UCITS ETF. So now I have three economy ETFs in my portfolio: one that tracks the Dutch stock market, one that tracks the European economy and one that tracks the development of the global economy. Seems like a nice spread. One of the reasons I chose this European ETF is that the price is only around 26 euros, so it’s very easy to get in if you invest with small amounts.

My investments at ING returned € 341.12 last month, and my average return rate is now 13.7%.

 Saxo Bank

At Saxo Bank I sold all my silver ETF. I already have precious metals in my portfolio at ING, and I want less overlap.

Last month I decided to sell some of my oil ETF (LOIL). This one has a lot of profit, and I want to cash in on that. There is also a good chance that it will increase further, that’s why I’m going to sell it in pieces. At the beginning of this month I sold 520 of 2200 at the price of 10.26. At this price this number was exactly enough to get my investment back. So the remaining 1680 pieces are pure profit, or another way of looking at it: I can’t lose anything with it anymore and only make a profit.

Now I’m planning to sell them in packs of 500 euros. As the price rises, fewer and fewer pieces are needed to get 500 euros, and I will determine the selling price accordingly. Due to the rising price, such a sell order has already been executed twice this last month. The first for 48 pieces (price: 10.52), the second was for 47 pieces (price: 10.82). So the next order will be for 46 pieces, and in order to bring in 500 euros I have set a price of 11.05. The next order after that will be for 45 pieces, which results in a price of 11.30. I’m curious how this will turn out.

My investments at Saxo Bank returned € 4,133.92 last month, and my average return rate is now 103.7%.

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.