Review: My P2P Lending Portfolio May 2019

May 17, 2019January 13, 2020 wiseclerk 7 Comments

I covered my p2p lending portfolio periodically over the past 12 years in this blog. The following report is a snapshot on how it is composed right now (May 2019) and which strategy I will take for the next months. As you can see below I aim for a widespread diversification (over different platforms as well as geographically) of my p2p lending investments.

Mintos

Mintos* is my biggest position. I run a trading strategy on Mintos. Mintos gives my net annual return as 15.1%. Calculating it myself based on the deposits and withdrawals I get a XIRR value of 24.8%. The cause for the huge discrepancy is that Mintos does not account correctly for the cashback of the campaigns. I heavily traded, when Mogo ran a campaign. For example I invested in new Mogo loans that were offered with a 2% cashback on the primary market, nearly instantly sold them with 1.8% discount on the secondary market and pocketed the cashback. Rinse and repeat.

I am satisfied with the current degree of diversification over loan originators in my Mintos portfolio. The bulk of my investments is in loan terms between 3 and 30 months at interest rates ranging from 13% to 15%. The lower interest rate loans are usually only held temporary as part of my trading strategy.

For the coming month I plan to keep my Mintos* investment at roughly that amount, reinvesting the paid principal and interest.
New investors registering via this link at Mintos, get 1% cashback on amounts invested in the first 90 days. Mintos is currently not accepting UK investors.

Linked Finance

My second largest p2p investment is on Irish SME loan platform Linked Finance.

Diversification achieved is good. The majority of my loans have interest rates between 8% and 11%. Most loan terms are 2 or 3 years.

I “collected” 7 loans in default (double dip on the golf loan). But 5 of these had repaid more than half the principal before they want into the default state so the principal in default sums up to only 270 Euro. My self-calulated XIRR value is 6.4% if I totally write off the amounts in default and 7.1% if I assume that half the amount in default will be recovered. I plan to slightly increase my Linked Finance* portfolio in the next months. Linked Finance is not offering any cashback or bonus rewards for new investors.

Bondora

Bondora is my third largest and oldest (still running) p2p lending portfolio. I started in 2012. My self calculated XIRR value is 16.6%. A yield that high is not achievable nowadays anymore. My portfolio profited heavily from the first years when interest rates were typically 28% to 34%.

I am currently investing into Estonian A and B loans using these autoinvest settings. I have used these settings unchanged for 11 months now and it is running totally hands-off with no maintenance required.

On Bondora* I reinvest the bulk of my repayments and occasionaly withdraw some funds. New investors registering on Bondora using this link get a 5 Euro sign-up bonus.

Ratesetter Australia

Ratesetter Australia* is my fourth largest p2p investment and also one of my youngest. I started in August 2018. My XIRR value self calculated in AUD is 9,1% if I include the 75 AUD sign-up bonus and 7.4% if I do not include that.

My money is mostly invested on the Ratesetter 5 year market at an average rate of 9.2% (that is after fees but before withholding tax).

In the past months the interest rates have dropped considerably therefore I am parking some funds on the 1 month market or invest them on the 3 year market.

I am reinvesting all repayments at Ratesetter Australia. If rates go up again I plan to do that on the 5 year market, otherwise I’ll settle for the 3 year market. It is a little complicated to register as a non-resident, but I have described how I managed to sign up as a European here. New investors can earn a 75 AUD promotion bonus by investing 2,000 AUD or more in our 3 year Income or 5 year Income lending markets before 31st May 2019. Achieving that requirement in time will not be easy, even if you start directly.

Iuvo Group

The fifth largest position of my p2p portfolio is invested at Iuvo. It is running hands-off and does not require any maintenance.

I continue to reinvest all repayments. Iuvo pays new investors a very generous cashback of up to 90 EUR. For more details and how to get it see the cashback overview page.

Estateguru

After I completely exited Lendy in last autumn, baltic Estateguru* is now my largest platform for property secured loans. I don’t use the autoinvest. Instead I periodically login and manually invest into a new Estonian loan secured by a first rank mortgage.

I mostly reinvest all repayments. New investors get 0.5% cashback for all investments in the first 90 days, if they sign up using this link.

Fellow Finance

I used to have a larger portfolio at finnish Fellow Finance but I did not want to go below 12% for 4 star Finnish consumer loans therefore I started withdrawing funds last year. In January the sale price collections paid tor Finnish loans dropped from 70% to 53% which reinforced my decision to exit.

October

I am running down my portfolio on French SME loan marketplace October. With the low interest rates and rising defaults (6 out of 52 loans) in my portfolio the risk reward ratio is not for my taste anymore.

New investors signing up on October using this link* can get 20 EUR bonus (200 Euro minimum investment)

More p2p lending marketplaces

Due to professional interest (want to gain first hand experience) and curiosity I have more p2p lending portfolios at Ablrate* (small, reinvesting), Assetz Capital* (tiny, reinvesting, possibly increasing), Bulkestate* (tiny, testing), Crowdestate* (small, reinvesting), Finbee* (tiny, nearly exited), Investly (small, reinvesting), Lenndy* (tiny, watching), Monestro, (tiny, exiting), Moneything* (small, exiting), Neofinance* (small, testing, probably running down), Reinvest24* (small, testing), Robocash* (small, reinvesting), Zlty Melon* (tiny, exiting next month when terms are up).

Crowdinvesting

Not p2p lending but investing in startups. I am a huge fan of Seedrs*. Investing in startups is of course even higher risk than investing in p2p lending. Nevertheless I went ahead and built a big Seedrs portfolio over the last years. Snapshot:

P2P Conference Riga

I am looking forward to be at the P2P Conference in Riga* which is less than 4 weeks away. The conference is reasonably priced (enter promotional code P2PEARLYBIRD40 for 40% rebate) and Riga can be reached with cheap flights from many European cities. BTW, Riga is an interesting town, if you have not been there yet you could combine the conference with some sightseeing.

Fellow Finance Plans IPO at Nasdaq Helsinki

September 21, 2018January 13, 2020 wiseclerk 1 Comment

Finnish p2p lending marketplace Fellow Finance* plans an IPO at Nasdaq Helsinki. Established in 2013 and launching operations in 2014, Fellow Finance is an internationally active and growth-oriented FinTech group that provides crowdfunding services. The Company has facilitated peer-to-peer loans to consumers as well as loan-based crowdfunding and invoice financing to businesses in a total amount of more than EUR 295 million, serving nearly 430,000 users from around 50 different countries. Fellow Financeâ€™s net sales consist mainly of commissions and interest income. Taaleri Plc is the largest owner of the Company, with an ownership of 45.7 percent before the IPO.

In 2017 Fellow Financeâ€™s net sales was EUR 8.7 million, growing by 55 percent from the previous year. The good development continued in the first half of 2018, as the Companyâ€™s net sales grew by 43 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

The objective of the planned IPO and Listing is to finance international growth and expansion of operations. Further objectives for the Listing are to increase the number of share-holders, give the Company access to capital markets, and in-crease the liquidity of the Company share and awareness of the Company. The Listing will also allow the more efficient use of shares as e.g. means of payment in eventual corporate acquisitions and in the remuneration of employees. The gross proceeds that the Company will receive from the Share Issue are estimated to amount to a total of approximately EUR 10.0 million, before IPO related fees and expenses.

Institutional investors consisting of certain funds managed by OP Fund Management Company Ltd and Sp-Fund Management Company Ltd as well as Prior&Nilsson Fund and Asset Management Ltd have given their pre-commitments to subscribe for shares and agreed to become cornerstone investors in the IPO. Additionally, the Companyâ€™s Chairman Kai Myllyneva, and members of the Board of Directors Esa Laurila and Jorma Alanne given their pre-commitments to subscribe for shares in the IPO. Total subscription commitments amount to approximately EUR 4.6 million.

Fellow Financeâ€™s CEO Jouni Hintikka says:
â€œWe have created an advanced marketplace where we unite businesses and individuals looking for financing in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Poland with a global pool of investors looking for returns. Borrower customers are provided with peer-to-peer loans, business loans and invoice financing at market terms. For investor customers our services enable diversification of assets into an alternative asset class with minimum need of time and effort.”

Banco BNI Europe Starts to Lend on Multiple P2P Lending Platforms

February 5, 2018February 5, 2018 wiseclerk 1 Comment

Banco BNI Europa was launched in July 2014 as a digital-only bank in Portugal. Banco BNI Europa says it aims to challenge the traditional banking sector through strategic partnerships with fast-moving fintech businesses to launch new products allowing the use of the most advanced technology in terms of risk analysis, consumer experience and rapid entry into the market.

Today Banco BNI Europe announced it will start lending on Fellow Finance.

‘Modern banks expand and grow by partnerships. Fellow Finance enables and offers an easy access to invest and lend in Nordic and Central European consumer and SME loans through its platform. Through their investment account at Fellow Finance, Banco BNI Europa is able to diversify their balance sheet investment into Finnish and German loans easily and cost-effectively. This is an example that banks donâ€™t need to set up their own expensive operations on ground but can effectively enter markets through marketplace lending platforms. It is also an example how banks can also utilize the presence of FinTech among their core business’ says Jouni Hintikka, the CEO of Fellow Finance.

‘Investing via Fellow Finance in consumer and SME loans offers us a great opportunity to easily expand our operations and we are very satisfied with the analytical and professional approach of Fellow Finance in credit intermediation’ echoes Pedro Pinto Coelho, Executive Chairman of Banco BNI Europa.

Last week BNI Europe announced it will fund German SME loans through Funding Circle. According to Pedro Pinto Coelho, Executive Chairman of Banco BNI Europa, ‘an investment in German SME – the staple of European economic stability – is a highly attractive asset class. And Funding Circle is the professional partner that convinced us with their risk assessment and credit analysis. …’.

To date Banco BNI Europa has struck fourteen fintech partnerships with European fintech leaders across the continent. The bank had 141 per cent growth by the end of 2017 taking its total assets above â‚¬500m, and cited its focus on ‘innovative products’ as an explanation for the improved performance.

Fellow Finance Now Offers Loans to German Borrowers

September 7, 2017September 7, 2017 wiseclerk

Peer-to-peer lending platform Fellow Finance is now open for borrowers in Germany. Wirecard Bank supports the Finnish FinTech company Fellow Finance to enter and provide a digital infrastructure for the German financial market. Wirecard Bank will place their German full banking license at the Fellow Financeâ€™s disposal and in addition enabling a completely digital credit process.

Under German regulation (KWG) only banks are all allowed to make loans, meaning all p2p lending platforms need to partner with a transaction bank.

It is not a full p2p lending offering as investors cannot invest into the German loans on the platform. And Fellow Finance states in their TOC that they do not advise borrowers regarding the loans. So it looks to be an attempt to capitalize on the reach of the brand. The website for the German market is running on the national domain Fellowfinance.de.
Update: While the German website explicitly states that retail investors cannot invest, the wording might be misleading and actually might mean only that investors need to go through the Finnish site in order to invest. On the Finnish site the ability to filter for German consumer loans and to set up allocators (autoinvest) for German loans is present.

Jouni Hintikka, CEO at Fellow Finance, says: â€œWe are looking forward to working with advanced Wirecard Bank as a co-operation partner in the future. We are proud of the entry into the German market after having already proven our business model in Finland and Poland. This is again one step of making Fellow Finance the biggest consumer and business lending platform in Europe and proves the scalability and flexibility of our platform.â€

Thorsten Holten, Executive Vice President Sales Financial Institution and FinTech Europe, adds: â€œGaining Fellow Finance as a customer means that we can expand on our collaboration in the area of alternative lending with the aid of an international partner. With our expertise in the areas of banking and regulations, we help FinTech companies such as Fellow Finance to enter the market in the best way possible as well as to quickly and easily internationalise their business.â€

In future, Wirecard Bank will support Fellow Finance in the scoring of potential borrowers and carrying out payment transactions. This means that end consumers in Germany will be able to quickly apply and raise a loan in competitive interest rate.

The German market is very competitive and so far p2p lending marketplaces have found out it is not easy to compete with the banks. In Germany Auxmoney is the largest p2p lending marketplace offering consumer loans.

Fellow Finance Adds Invoice Financing

August 7, 2017August 7, 2017 wiseclerk

Finnish p2p lending service Fellow Finance has opened a new invoice finance service for companies, which allows businesses to convert their trade receivables into cash immediately. In the new invoice finance service, a company gets funding against its invoice receivables directly from investors.

Fellow Finance says the opening of the new invoice finance service by Fellow Finance ensures that small and medium-sized companies will receive a new flexible funding channel alongside traditional business loans. In Fellow Finance a company only uploads its invoice receivables in to the service and receives a funding offer immediately. When the funding offer has been accepted, the company receives the money immediately against the invoice receivable. This will make the pay of working capital needs easier for companies suffering from long invoicing periods up to 60 days.

“Financing a trade receivable is one of the easiest and most reasonable ways for companies to acquire working capital. By financing an invoice, a firm immediately receives its money, which accelerates money circulation and supports the growth of the business. The invoice finance service by Fellow Finance is technologically a forerunner compared to traditional services and operators in Europe, “says Jouni Hintikka, CEO of Fellow Finance.

With new invoice finance functionality investors have now the opportunity to invest in companiesâ€™ short-term invoices. Basically, this means that a company offers its invoice to the marketplace of Fellow Finance to be funded by investors. Fellow Finance always does a credit rating for the invoice entered for financing based on the receiver and payer of the invoice contract. In addition, the credit risk is not transferred to the investors, but it is retained by the company that finances the invoice. The annual interest rates of invoice financing for investors are on average between 6-10%.

In adjacent Estonia p2p lending marketplace Investly, which specializes on invoice financing for Estonian and UK SMEs, is growing. The last figures we reported for them show 78% month on month and 319% y-o-y growth.

Fellow Finance P2P Lending – My Portfolio and Strategy

March 9, 2017 wiseclerk 6 Comments

Fellow Finance is a p2p lending marketplace in Finland. It started 2013 with loans to Finnish consumers, and later added Polish consumer loans and loans to Finnish SME’s. Since launch more than 100 million EUR in loans were funded. See earlier blog coverage on Fellow Finance by P2P-Banking.com.

The basics are:

minimum bid is 25 EUR
no investor fees (except for 1% fee for selling on secondary market)
loans rated from 1 star to 5 stars, interest rates depend largely on this rating, terms up to 7 years
underbidding auctions, but in practise most bidding is done by allocator (autoinvest) at a ‘market rate’

I started a small test investment early in 2016, but really started building my portfolio from autumn 2016. Since then I have deposited 4,000 Euro. I currently invest only in Finnish consumer loans and concentrate on 3 and 4 star loans for which the market rates are currently 13% and 15%. The Finnish consumer loans are covered by a buyback guarantee of 70%, meaning in case they are 90 days overdue, they will be sold for 70% of outstanding principal to a collection agency.

My investment on Fellow Finance is conducted solely through the allocator (the autoinvest) function.

My current Fellow Finance allocator settings – click to enlarge

Basically for me Fellow Finance is a mostly hands-off investment running on autopilot. I do log in at least bi-weekly to check if the market rates have changed. The market rates do fluctate sometimes at +/- 1%, and I felt it necessary to tweak the rate of my allocator then to keep it bidding (at the best possible rate). Fellow Finance is one of the very few platforms, where investors can configure the autoinvest to buy on the secondary market, but I have not used that. Also so far I feel no need to use the secondary market for selling. While several of my loans have gone late, they all catched up and none have defaulted. But my portfolio is still very young so it is bound to happen sometime in the future. The Fellow Finance statistics page gives figures for past loss rates by credit grades. It also shows that interest rate levels have sunk sharply in the end of 2015, beginning of 2016 – I guess I should have started to use this marketplace earlier.

Getting money deployed can take a while, as a lot of the bids (loan reservations) are cancelled. I started with 25 EUR bids by the allocator but to speed deployment up, I increased my maximum bid size to 60 Euro.

Overall the website – which is available in english language – is good, only sometimes a tad slow to respond. A mobile is needed to receive SMS codes to confirm some actions.

My plan it to increase my portfolio by another 1,000 Euro, bringing it to 5,000 and then to reinvest proceeds and see how it develops over time.

What are your Fellow Finance experiences? There are over 150 posts on the German investor’s Fellow Finance forum thread. Reviews there are mostly positive in tone.

My Fellow Finance portfolio dashboard

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