January 2022: moving east to west

The P2P platforms in Eastern Europe promise and offer very high interest rates, some even well above 10%. As I and other investors have noticed, this also comes with quite high risks. A lot of money has been lost with some fraudulent platforms. The platforms in Western Europe on the other hand offer considerably lower returns, but these markets are more stable.

This is clearly visible in my overviews now, since I split my platforms into the two groups. The actual return at the Western European groups is consistently much higher. This is because a few malicious platforms are taken into account, but also because more and more platforms are yielding a somewhat lower return. So it is no longer that beneficial to look to the far east (of Europe).

I already used two limits for account values for myself: a maximum of 5000 euros per platform and a lower maximum of 2500 euros for platforms that I consider to be a greater risk (for example, the platforms without a license). I am now going to tighten this up: for all platforms from Eastern Europe I will use the maximum of 2500 euros, even if it has a license and I consider it a safe platform. At the platforms that have a higher value I will turn off the auto-invest and withdraw the money above the limit.

For the money withdrawn I will look for a Western European destination, platforms close to home. I do look at platforms with a reasonable market share.

Portfolio overview January 2022

Last month my portfolio increased by € 4,184.53 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)

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

 Flender

In January two of my investments were fully repaid at Flender. There is now again almost 600 euros available for the auto-invest to invest. Flender is a platform from Ireland, so my account value may be a bit higher here than the limit of 2500 euros that I have set myself for the Eastern European platforms.

My investments at Flender returned € 19.54 last month, and my average return rate is now 7.2%.

 Funding Circle NL

The two remaining projects on Funding Circle NL continue to pay interest and principal, and my returns are still fine here. It’s just a shame that you can no longer invest here as a private investor.

My investments at Funding Circle NL returned € 5.28 last month, and my average return rate is now 8.7%.

 Lender & Spender

Each year, Lender & Spender makes money available for a few charities and the investors get to vote for the charities. This year € 1,670 will go to “Disadvantaged Children in the Netherlands”, € 770 to “EarthToday”, and € 560 to “Animal Shelter Amsterdam”. Always good to see that there are companies that also want to do something right.

Of course, a 3.8% return and an automatic spread over thousands of loans is also very good, but society can always use an extra helping hand.

My investments at Lender & Spender returned € 10.77 last month, and my average return rate is now 3.8%.

 Max Crowdfund

According to my dashboard on Max Crowdfund, my first loan will be paid off in a few days. This is also the first loan I invested in through this platform, in March last year: “Plantin en Moretuslei 79 Antwerp”.

It seems that this will be repaid prematurely, because the original term is still half a year longer. Not that I mind, because it concerns an amount of 300 euros. In the beginning there were not that many projects so I invested somewhat higher amounts, but now new projects are regularly available. That is why I now always invest 100 euros, which is also the minimum amount here.

.I can therefore reinvest the amount that I now get back in three other projects, and that is of course favorable in terms of risk spreading. And it is also time to invest here again, my last investment was at the beginning of October. That is the ‘annoyance’ of a minimum investment amount of 100 euros, it takes quite a while before you arrive at that amount with the interest received. On the other hand, I now receive 6 euros interest per month on my investment/deposit of 1000 euros and then there is little reason to complain.

My investments at Max Crowdfund returned € 6.16 last month, and my average return rate is now 4.1%.

Crowdlending (east)

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

 Bondora

The average return at Bondora continues to fall slowly, very consistently at 0.1% per month in recent months. Bondora Go&Grow offers you max. 6.75% interest, paid monthly, and you can basically withdraw your money at any time. This decrease means that it could take another year or so before the average return reaches the 6.75% of Go&Grow and then it will be interesting to see what happens.

It could be that the interest rate of Go&Grow can start to fall, but even then it is still very interesting (you don’t have to pay to store your money like with a savings account, while you can withdraw it quickly). It is of course also possible that the percentages will rise again, but I don’t see any signs of that yet.

My investments at Bondora returned € 20.05 last month, and my average return rate is now 6.8%.

 Brickstarter

A few days ago there was another new project at Brickstarter, I was just a bit late to invest my free amount (117 euros). Too bad, the projects are scarce here. The last one was last November. But my return is pretty stable here at 5%, so no real reason to complain.

A disadvantage is that this is a fairly small platform, and not a lot of news or statistics are published. So it’s nice to try, but I don’t think I would invest here if I didn’t already invest via many other platforms.

My investments at Brickstarter returned € 8.50 last month, and my average return rate is now 5.0%.

 Bulkestate

Despite the promising interest rates on Bulkestate, combined with the mortgage collateral, my return here is just under 5%. I actually dislike. Also because I think the communication is a bit poor, although they have recently improved the website.

My auto-invest is switched off here, if the free amount here has increased a bit I will withdraw it so that my account here drops to 2500 euros. I will use this as a maximum for the platforms in Eastern Europe, when I withdraw the money I will look at a new Western European platform. Probably a Dutch or Belgian platform, at least one with a reasonable market share.

Last month my account value at Bulkestate did not change, and my average return rate is now 4.8%.

 Crowdestate

My yield at Crowdestate is also slowly declining, although 8.7% is still pretty good. I did turn off the auto-invest because this platform is above my (new) limit.

My investments at Crowdestate returned € 0.07 last month, and my average return rate is now 8.7%.

 Crowdestor

What a wonderful feeling it gives every time I check my numbers at Crowdestor. Not because I think this is a safe platform, actually it isd the opposite, but because I have withdrawn more money than I have ever deposited here. So everything here is free money, which means I don’t have to lie awake at all worrying about it. Still, I advise everyone to stay away from here.

My investments at Crowdestor returned € 8.92 last month, and my average return rate is now 13.3%.

 EstateGuru

My account at EstateGuru is still running fine, but I will also reduce it a little bit to my new limit of 2500 Euros. I think it is trustworthy, and I have invested money in the platform itself via Seedrs, but it is still an Eastern European platform and my own rules apply.

EstateGuru has replaced the auto-invest with ‘Investment Strategies’, with various improvements. For example, you can invest from 50 euros with more filters and selection options than before. The platform has already automatically transferred your auto-invest settings to the Investment Strategies, but turned them off. The idea is that you check it yourself and then activate it. A good time to check everything again.

My investments at EstateGuru returned € 14.75 last month, and my average return rate is now 9.9%.

 EvoEstate

The people behind EvoEstate recently set up another platform to post projects for real estate that will be bought and rented out: InRento. They wanted to separate this from the EvoEstate platform itself, but now it has become known that the two platforms are going to merge.

There are advantages for investors, for example InRento is regulated and licensed by the central bank of Lithuania. The minimum investment in InRento projects will be reduced from 500 to 100 euros. The account and payment structure will also be changed. If you have opened an account with Paysera or Mangopay, repayments and interest received will be deposited directly into your own account.

In addition, there is also a cashback bonus if you invest in the InRento projects: 1.5% bonus on all your investments in the first year, 1% bonus on all your investments in the second year and 0.5% in the third year.

My investments at EvoEstate returned € 21.11 last month, and my average return rate is now 5.5%.

 Fast Invest

Fast Invest has not paid out the withdrawals for a year, according to its own words due to problems at the borrowing companies. But you can also not withdraw the free amount, while this should always be available. Therefore, stay far away from this platform, this is just not right.

Last month my account value at Fast Invest did not change, and my average return rate is now 11.8%.

 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 decreased by € 0.91, and my average return rate is now 6.2%.

 Iuvo

Last month my account value at Iuvo did not change, and my average return rate is now 7.4%.

 Mintos

At Mintos I have three accounts, for three currencies: Euros, Russian Rubles, and Kazakhstani Tenges. The latter is down about 4% in total value over the month, presumably because of the chaos in Kazakhstan. Mintos did send updates to investors to let them know about the issues and changes. For example, the internet connections were down and international payments blocked. In the meantime, Mintos has received a message that the payments and connections have been restored. I’ve put my auto-invest off for now, and see what happens there.

Last month my account value at Mintos decreased by € 32.14, and my average return rate is now 9.9%.

 NEO Finance

My investments at NEO Finance returned € 18.97 last month, and my average return rate is now 3.3%.

 PeerBerry

Also, PeerBerry has now broken the “magic” barrier of 1 billion in loans. The number of investors has risen to over 50,000.

PeerBerry’s shareholders have indicated that the regulated platform will be launched in the second quarter of this year, licensed by the Lithuanian National Bank. The name of the platform then becomes Crowdpear.

My investments at PeerBerry returned € 9.35 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.4%.

 Reinvest24

Reinvest24 has almost processed the 50,000th investment trade, and as a bonus they are going to double the investment of the person who places that 50,000th trade. You should never invest to get a certain bonus, but if you planned it anyway it is a nice plus. It is also nice that Reinvest24 has recently abolished the investment fee, so you no longer have any upfront costs. Instead, you now pay the small premium when the investment is repaid, and therefore your return is also higher. Moreover, it felt annoying to have to pay costs to be allowed to invest, at least that is no longer the case.

My investments at Reinvest24 returned € 13.36 last month, and my average return rate is now 6.3%.

 Robocash

My investments at Robocash returned € 13.80 last month, and my average return rate is now 12.7%.

 TFG Crowd

Last month my account value at TFG Crowd did not change, and my average return rate is now 13.9%. You should avoid this platform, in my opinion.

 TWINO

My investments at TWINO returned € 16.95 last month, and my average return rate is now 9.7%.

 Viainvest

There’s little news about Viainvest again, but that’s fine. They have an Investment Brokerage Firm license, and are thus regulated. In addition, the platform and the lenders belong to the same group, so they have everything under their own control. That gives me the feeling that there are few surprises to expect here, and that I can therefore quietly let my money grow here automatically.

My investments at Viainvest returned € 24.68 last month, and my average return rate is now 12.0%.

Crowdfunding

 CrowdAboutNow

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

 Crowdcube

My investments at Crowdcube returned € 50.28 last month, and my average return rate is now 1.2%.

 Seedrs

The proceeds from the sale of Mimetis on Seedrs are in my account, about 900 euros. Because I have already invested more than 22,000 euros through Seedrs in the risky but interesting crowdlending projects, I will withdraw this amount in the coming months. Maybe I will finance another (Dutch) loan through CrowdAboutNow. Or maybe I’ll start at GeldVoorElkaar, I hear good stories about that too. At least something close to home.

My investments at Seedrs returned € 149.11 last month, and my average return rate is now 10.8%.

Stock

 DEGIRO

Last month my account value at DEGIRO decreased by € 293.89, and my average return rate is now 30.6%.

 ING

At ING I again invested 50 euros in economics ETFs (Amundi Prime europe UCITS) and 50 euros in precious metals (WisdomTree Physical Silver). Due to the price changes, the ratio between these two categories in my portfolio has crept closer together again, it is now 50.6%-49.4%.

Last month my account value at ING decreased by € 203.30, and my average return rate is now 9.0%.

 Saxo Bank

Oil went well again this month, at Saxo Bank two of my sell orders were hit and executed.

I am slowly cashing in my profits according to a fixed strategy: I always place an order with a total sales value of 500 euros, but always with 1 share less. One order was for the sale of 42 units, the other for the sale of 41 units. I have already placed new orders for the sale of 40, 39 and 38 units. All at an increasingly higher rate, so that the yield is always 500 euros.

My investments at Saxo Bank returned € 4,303.12 last month, and my average return rate is now 90.6%.

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.