A great month of returns and other joys

February has been a month of returns and a few other joys 😉

It has just ended with optimistic news: Kuetzal’s insolvency administrator has returned almost €5.200, Lenndy has reappeared paying €4 after several months without news and Esketit has behaved exceptionally well.

The €5.200 will go almost entirely to Peerberry to exceed the €10.000 threshold for the additional 0.5% bonus on each project and to Robocash to reach the €15.000 threshold and its 0.7% bonus.

Although this month has only brought in €459 in profitability, I am satisfied with the figures obtained, a prelude to an excellent March:

We haven’t had a single piece of good news from the damned Housers and it continues to be desperate with their slovenliness and bad work. 

On the other hand, I used February to invest €3,650 in Peerberry, €450 in Bondster, €250 in Viainvest and Lendermarket.

Below you can see the profit obtained in February, the annual percentage of profitability and the total amount invested:

Here are the platforms that I am very satisfied with in green, somewhat less satisfied with in orange and undesirable in red:

Peerberry (+info)

Peeerberry brought me another €51 in February, which in March will be close to €80 after more than €10,000 invested.

As mentioned above, this figure will add an additional 0.5% to the percentage of each project invested.

This is the so-called Silver category, still far from the Gold (+€25K) or Platinum (+€40K) options:

Due to the events in Russia and Ukraine, they have stopped offering projects from these two countries and, in headline news, have exceeded €1 billion in funding and delivered €12M in returns to investors. ¡Bravo!

They remain second in terms of volume financed, with more than €207 million in the last quarter, behind only Mintos with €460 million.

If you want to invest in them, here they add 0.5% of your investment if it exceeds €500 during the first 30 days:

Viainvest (+info)

They have contributed €17 in February and it is one of the chosen ones in which I have increased the portfolio by €250.

They have more projects due to their new Broker Licence, in which investors have been brought under MiFID II regulation.

Investors can now be retail or professional and Viainvest is supervised by the Latvian Financial Commission (FCMC).

They are about to reach 28,000 registered users with an average of €3,119 invested in their projects.

A booming platform, they have increased their funded volume by 16.28% in the last three months, according to p2pmarketdata.com.

If you want to start earning, this banner gives you €15 just by investing more than €50. What are you waiting for? With only 50€!

Robocash (+info)

Another €137 that Robocash has given me in February! €768 contributed since November!!!! Olé, olé and olé.

But I am not satisfied with that and want to go beyond the €15,000 “Gold” category in March to earn an additional 0.7% per annum:

With such an amount invested, the snowball effect of compound interest, which has been giving me so much joy for several years now, is even more evident 😉

In the same vein, Robocash has published an article forecasting a 20% increase in P2P investments by 2022, with the wars and pandemics taking their leave.

I couldn’t help but comment that they have celebrated their 5th anniversary! Congratulations! And may there be many more…

They had considered downgrading their yields in March, but will wait a few weeks to see the extent of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Since January I recommend investing in longer-term projects because they also pay interest once a month.

As a sample, here is my automatic investment chart:

I have increased the minimum investment period from the initial 31 days to the current 180 days to increase profitability. Also the minimum of €70 for each project

You can see that from 12% there are many projects (702) if you choose a longer term.

We are now over 23,000 investors and I am happy to have contributed 43 who I am sure will be as happy as I am with Robocash.

Don’t miss the opportunity to join them in this banner, where they add 1% of your investment if it exceeds 500€ during the first month:

Lendermarket (+info)

Another platform that is giving me a lot of joy and which I have rewarded with an additional €250 added to my portfolio.

I have already passed the €1,000 mark and with a return of 13.91%, I will be able to double the initial amount in 5 years. Not bad, is it?

Lendermarket has launched a 2% campaign for new investors with two conditions: invest more than €1,000 and in projects with a term of more than 11 months.

You can find all the information here.

If you want to benefit from their 2% promotion until 20 March, click on this banner:

Bondster (+info)

Another good month of Bondster which has earned me €6 and in which I have increased another €450, now over €1,000 invested.

His many projects at 16% for less than one year, in euros and with buyback are very interesting. Don’t miss them!

Of Bondster’s 27 originators, two of them are Russian, which cannot be invested in from autoinvest. Appropriate action.

Two new originators have joined Bondster:

  • OK Credit, a Moldovan company specialising in short-term microcredit at 10-12%.
  • Dyninno is a holding company with a presence in Russia, Romania, UK and Moldova with more than 350 employees. They have projects lasting an average of six months at 11%.

They have surpassed 15,000 investors and €93M funded in February.

Get an additional 1% from €100 of investment for the first 90 days:

Nibble (+info)

€4 was contributed by this platform in February with an initial investment of only €300 in April 2021 and a total of €44 in interest.

With almost a year of experience investing in them, I continue to be very satisfied with their results.

In two months I intend to expand my portfolio, as I am close to obtaining a supervisory licencefrom the Estonian FSA (Financial Supervision Authority).

I currently get a 14.5% annual return, but if you don’t want to take risks, take advantage of their classic strategy at 9.7% with Buyback and from 10€:

Esketit (+info)

I am still delighted with them and this month they have delivered €86 between profitability and affiliate bonus.

Keep an eye on it, because it has had a projection of 42.55% in the last quarter, as you can see from P2PMarketData:

They have invested over €31M and almost 400 new registered users in February, consolidating their good performance.

They devote a lot of resources to innovation and have therefore become the first platform to invest in “stable cryptocurrencies”.

In August I wrote a detailed article about this platform created by the founders of Creamfinance who have been in the market for 9 years and you can read it here.

They continue to keep their failed projects at ZERO and have already distributed almost half a million euros to the 1922 registered investors.

If you invest on this great platform, here is an additional 1% bonus for amounts over €100 for the first 30 days:

Estateguru (+info)

February did not bring any return because they pay in quarterly periods and I already received €24 in January.

In July 2021 I invested €300 and I invested another €300 in October. Now it’s time to wait until the summer to see how well they are doing.

This month they opened a technology office in Armenia and continue to deliver excellent results.

I already invested in 2018 with them, but they have improved a lot and their projects are really interesting and with few delays.

In fact, they have positioned themselves in the TOP10 for financing in EUR currency, with an accumulated €525M and more than 121,000 investors.

If you want to join them, in this banner you have a Welcome Bonus that brings an extra 0.5% to your investment for the first 90 days:

Kirsan Invest (+info)

I have reached February with just over €30 in returns from the three projects in which I invested €600 in September for 6 months, 1 year and 18 months respectively, two in Moldova and one in Spain:

They currently have three projects under financing, at 12%, 13% and 14% annual returns, all in Moldova:

They continue to close projects with some dynamism and have already financed 12 projects with an average return of 11.76%.

In March they are planning a makeover of their website and in April they will surprise us with another new improvement.

There are no welcome bonuses at the moment.

Crowdestor (+info)

This month they have contributed €144, but I still do not recommend investing given the delays and lack of information.

The only up-to-date project of the 11 I have invested in is supposed to finish in April – E. Fon Trompowsky Quarter – so I’ll let you know:

I do not recommend investing in this platform with an uncertain future.

Iuvo (+info)

I only have €21 left to withdraw from this platform where I have not seen a return since I invested €200 over a year ago.

Of the 5 projects invested, 4 are in arrears and if the 5th project is also not paid on time, repayment will be delayed until 10 May.

I don’t think it is a recommendable platform, although I see that some people rely on it. For me an 80% project backlog is too much.

Maybe we will see each other in the future, but a lot has to change to reverse my opinion of them.

Mintos (+info)

Since October they have not returned a single euro and there is still €735 left which I hope to get back one day.

They are already licensed as a European investment firm regulated by the Latvian FCMC (Financial and Capital Market Commission), but their inefficiency in recovering our investments makes me wary of their management.

Mintos is still the leading P2P platform in Europe, but Peerberry keeps getting closer every month, and many of us are waiting to get our money back before running away…

Housers (+info)

What happened in Housers in February? Not much: they have returned a project, the courts are unable to send them notifications because they have no known address, and they still do not offer solutions to the dozens of projects that are still blocked.

I will give you an example of the Juan de la Encina project, which ended its vote on 23 February:

  1. Review and approval of the 2020 annual accounts. 13 months later? Yes, it does.
  2. Proposal for a reduction in the price of the project. What profitability will they publish next?
  3. Let’s leave it up to Housers’ proposed Administrator to do as he pleases. This is the summary.

And now, those of you who are unwary and want to continue investing, go ahead! But don’t say that we haven’t been warning for years about the lack of transparency in Housers.

Bulkestate (+info)

Finally, it seems that the project that was supposed to be finished 12 months ago, Amalijas Street, will be completed in March.

I see that in one month they have dropped from 49th to 51st in terms of volume financed and that means a lack of confidence in their projects.

Here is an example: on 10 February this project was opened at a 15% return and with 5 days to go before the end of the project, 45% of the project remains unfunded:

My personal opinion is that Bulkestate has failed to communicate to its investors in the face of the delays. Maybe it will pick up in the future, but I doubt they will be able to count on me by then.

Crowdestate (+info)

Other platforms have lost investor confidence due to the accumulation of failed and delayed projects.

On a personal level, the auction ended on 15 February and after two weeks we still do not know what has happened. No news.

The December auction must have been repeated because there were no takers, so I hope to be close to repaying the €2,600 I invested more than three years ago.

On the other hand, I still don’t know why the latest annual accounts date from 2019. Weird, isn’t it?

They continue to accumulate projects that are overdue or cannot be repaid. Let’s see how far they will go…

Lenndy (+info)

They returned €4.56 in February, which is great news, because I haven’t seen a cent since July 2021.

At this rate, however, they will not be finished by March 2024 as planned and we will have to wait a few more years. As long as they pay, welcome.

Kuetzal (+info)

After several years with an outstanding debt of €19.155, the insolvency administrators have begun to make refunds to those affected.

In my case they have refunded €5,132, equivalent to 26% of the total due. We do not know the date of the next payment and the amount of the next payment.

This has been my greatest joy this month and I hope to receive some more this year from Monethera or Envestio. Fingers crossed.

Too good to be true

I was dreaming about the arrival of October, because it was the month of payment of the Albufera project that Housers should have paid, but oh, surprise! We have not been paid! It was too good to be true.

In any case, I do not consider it a bad month, as it is the fifth consecutive month of over €700 per month.

Specifically, it was 761€, as you can see in this graph:

On the other hand, I am happy because I have invested €3,774 collected from an indemnity that will soon start to provide returns.

I have diversified it among six European platforms that I have full confidence in and which already exceed a portfolio of €42,000.

In addition, two platforms have released their profitability box this month: Estateguru and Kirsan Invest.

This is the October income, its profitability and the total invested:

And now for the platforms that I am very happy with in green, somewhat less happy with in orange and undesirable in red:

The BEST and recommended platforms with welcome BONUS

Peerberry (+info)

October has brought in a very welcome €65 and will be even more in November as I have added another €900 to the portfolio.

With this amount, I have deposited €3,100 in the last five months in their portfolio and the confidence they inspire in me is enormous.

They are continuing with their plans to launch a secondary market and also to obtain the EMI (Electronic Money Institution) licence to become a payment provider.

It remains second in terms of volume financed, with more than €56 million, behind only Mintos, with €153 million.

Here they add 0.5% of your investment if it exceeds €500 during the first 30 days:

Viainvest (+info)

Another €25 contributed by Viainvest in October, a month in which I increased my portfolio by €300 to €1465.

Due to its new Broker Licence, as of 5 November, investors will fall under MiFID II regulation.

Thus, ordinary investors can be either retail or professional and Viainvest will be supervised by the Latvian Financial Commission (FCMC).

In this banner you get €15 just for investing more than €50. What are you waiting for? With only 50€!

Robocash (+info)

This platform is going great! In August it gave me a €70 return, in August it was €95 and in October I got another €106!

And of course, I have increased my portfolio by €1,874 in October, thus surpassing the €10,000 mark, which brings me an additional +0.5% return.

It has been an exceptional month, exceeding €15M financed and paying out more than €305K to investors, of which there are now more than 20,000.

Don’t miss the opportunity to join this banner, where they add 1% of your investment if it exceeds 500€ during the first month:

Lendermarket (+info)

This month it returned €16 and I took the opportunity to add another €200 to my portfolio, which offers a 14.28% return.

In December I invested a small amount of €300 and the experience could not have been more satisfactory. One of my best decisions.

This month they have only published a series of updated investor FAQ (in English).

If you want to benefit from their 1% welcome promotion, click on this banner:

Bondster (+info)

Bondster returned €6 in October, a month in which I took the opportunity to increase my portfolio by €200.

I still want to increase my portfolio to €1,000 before the end of the year and I am well on my way.

This month saw the return of Lime South Africa to funding through Bondster and two new providers: TrustGro (Kenya) and NúNú (Iceland).

With almost 14,000 investors, they are on the verge of reaching €90M funded in record October with over €4.7M.

Get an additional 1% from €100 of investment for the first 90 days:

Nibble (+info)

October has contributed €4 with only €300 initial investment totalling €33 in interest since April.

It is next in my sights to expand my portfolio, as they will soon obtain a supervisory licence from the Estonian FSA (Financial Supervision Authority).

I currently get a 14.5% annual return, but if you don’t want to take risks, take advantage of their classic strategy at 9.7% with Buyback and from 10€:

Esketit (+info)

I am delighted with Esketit, which has returned €8, doubling the best result so far and with only €300 invested in May.

I have already had the opportunity to test their Buyback which works without delays and an autoinvest which works autonomously.

October has been a record October and November could see more than €16M financed and €200K paid in interest to the nearly 900 current investors.

In August I wrote a detailed article about this platform, which you can read here.

It is a new but reliable platform, created by the founders of Creamfinance, with 8 successful years in the market.

If you invest on this great platform, here is an additional 1% bonus for amounts over €100 for the first 30 days:

Estateguru (+info)

As I told you before, I invested €300 at the end of July and I invested another €300 in October.

From the first project I have already obtained €8.25 which you can see here and which in quarterly periods will bring an interest of 11.01%.

I already invested in 2018 with them, but they have improved a lot and their projects are now really interesting.

In fact, they have become the fourth largest platform in terms of EUR funding, with an accumulated €454M and close to 100,000 investors.

If you want to join them, in this banner you have a Welcome Bonus that brings an extra 0.5% to your investment for the first 90 days:

Kirsan Invest (+info)

I have started October with the first €3.67 of interest from the three projects I invested in in September:

Interest received: €3.67 // Available: €2.97 // Investments financed: €600

These are the projects in which I have invested €600, at 6 months, 1 year and 18 months respectively, two in Moldova and one in Spain:

They currently have two projects under financing, at 17% and 13% annual return, both in Moldova, a country in full development:

I will give you more details in a month’s time, as they have very interesting projects, a great financial structure with very good backing and very clear ideas.

There is no welcome bonus at the moment.

Platforms with some shadows that I do not recommend investing in

Crowdestor (+info)

In October they have contributed €117 from various interest arrears, but I still have no confidence in this platform.

Four “Elvi Grocery Stores” projects have had €500K in capital repaid, but the number of projects at serious risk of loss continues to grow:

€3.7M in recovery // €15M with delays exceeding 91 days

My projects in recovery add up to 25%: Kabuki Restaurant at Salaris, Consumer Loan Portfolio Acquisition and Fertilizer Export Financing.

On a positive note, it appears that Meža Enerģija investors will be paid €20K per week and expect to sell the project by May 2022.

There continues to be a lack of information from Crowdestor, which is the main reason why I do not recommend this platform with an uncertain future.

Iuvo (+info)

Another month in which they have contributed one measly euro to the portfolio, so I am reintegrating my entire portfolio from this platform.

It has been a test that I started in December and has not achieved the expected result.

This is not to say that it is not advisable for many investors, but it is not for me.

As an example, Kviku offers a return of 9.5% in euros in Iuvo, while Bondster offers them at 12%.

And if I want to get more return in foreign currency, they pass on 4.5% for each currency exchange, which is exaggerated in my opinion.

For those who want to give it a try, they have launched IuvoUP, with returns between 3% – 4%. Here you have more information in English and Spanish.

Maybe we will see each other in the future, but a lot would have to change.

Mintos (+info)

This month I have been refunded €25, but there is still €735 in the process of being refunded.

Of this amount, 98% is accounted for by Varks AM, which Mintos has changed from a projected recovery of 70% to 100%, but over a 5-year period instead of 3 years. Welcome.

They have outlined some new developments now that they are licensed as a European investment firm regulated by the Latvian FCMC (Financial and Capital Market Commission).

These include that investors’ monies will be protected up to a maximum of €20K under the investor compensation scheme.

This scheme does not protect against changes in the price of an investment, default of a borrower, lender or issuer.

The platform is changing for the better, but I need to see how it evolves over the coming months to confirm this.

Mintos remains the leading P2P platform in Europe, with almost €7.5 billion funded and almost half a million registered users.

Avoid these platforms

Housers (+info)

Housers has left me (again) with the desire, because I needed a miracle and I thought that maybe this time it would happen. What has NOT happened?

Well, the Albufera project where I invested €50K in 2018 has not repaid the capital nor the last interest signed at the Shareholders’ Meeting, with a payment date in October 2021.

Lawyer Manuel Merino has court hearings against Housers and developer Construbecker on Tuesday 2 and 4 November, respectively. We will see if justice is done and the indications of fraud by both are proven.

In October they paid two months’ arrears on the Torres de Paterna project, but I fear that we will not see any more interest arrears, unless the court case is successful. I hope I am wrong.

I am not in the mood to wait for what happens in that trial, so I will expand on that in the next publication.

Bulkestate (+info)

They have only launched one project in October and after half a month, they have not yet reached 75% of the necessary funding. Something is going wrong.

The reason for this is the distrust of Bulkestate and its refusal to pay monthly interest except for a few projects.

They have a lot of competition and better conditions, such as Estateguru, Reinvest24 or Evoestate.

On the personal front, they have updated the interest receivable on my project, which will be repaid one year late.

As soon as it does, it will be time to abandon this platform, which has two short-term alternatives: renew itself or die.

Crowdestate (+info)

There have been no changes since the announcement of 30 September by Baltic Forest’s insolvency administrator.

It states that the appraisal of the project has been completed and that the first auction will take place in November, so I will publish news shortly.

I am afraid there will be no repayment until the middle of next year, as there are more creditors than just Crowdestate investors.

In June the EFSA (Estonian Financial Authority) granted Crowdestate the certificate of regulated payment institution, but I see that they keep accumulating failed projects.

Furthermore, I wonder why the delay in the presentation of its annual accounts. Do you know that the last ones submitted are from 2019?

In October they have been very active with 10 projects funded, but there has been little progress on the more than 10.5 million outstanding on 31 overdue projects and almost 4 million on 6 unpaid projects.

Lenndy (+info)

We can talk about red flags or express them in many ways, but the conclusion is clear: they have disappeared.

They have not returned the 783€ of outstanding capital for three months, without answering emails or calls.

Could an investor come to your offices in Vilnius and confirm or deny the closure?

And they will still be able to take offence at the fact that a complaint has been lodged against them.

Some joy in a satisfying August

Yes, this could be the summary: a few joys in a satisfying month of August.

And I can feel satisfied even though I only got €705.

The reason is that a Crowdestor project has been repaid in full and Housers has repaid the Albufera project, among others.

On another note, I have received a financial contribution that will be reflected next month on various platforms. Whenever I can increase my crowdlending portfolio, I don’t miss the opportunity.

And I am patenting an idea that will hopefully be well received and bring me a lot of satisfaction.

Finally, I have started investing in Estateguru, but I will not update the information until September.

I can be happy with the results of the last three months, totalling €2.353:

And now, let’s get to the month’s news, with big news from some of the platforms:

The BEST and recommended platforms with welcome BONUS

Peerberry (+info)

On the verge of getting the crowdfunding licence in Lithuania, Peerberry keeps growing and giving me good news.

This month they have contributed €42 and are keeping the arrears at bay, as you can see here:

Peerberry Situation
Only 0.87% overdue more than 31 days

We have heard that they intend to launch a secondary market and that they also want to obtain the EMI (Electronic Money Institution) licence to become a payment provider.

This month they have also activated push notifications on their mobile app, with new deposits, withdrawals, uninvested amounts and others.

It remains the second largest platform by volume financed, with more than €48 million, behind Mintos with €150 million.

And finally, I reflect here the news that the Aventus Group, of which Peerberry is part, earned €13.15 million in the first half of 2021.

My goal at Peerberry is to reach Silver status (€10K) which offers an additional +0.5% and which I hope to achieve before December 😉

Here they add 0.5% of your investment if it exceeds 500 euros during the first 30 days:

Viainvest (+info)

Another €25 has been brought to me by Viainvest in August and I have taken profit from the additional €350 I added in June.

They have let us know that they have set an 11% interest rate on all their projects from 1 September.

They are also about to obtain their broker’s licence (IBF) and I will continue to grow my portfolio with them to €3,000 by the end of the year.

In this banner you get €15 just for investing more than €50. What are you waiting for? With only 50€!

Robocash (+info)

70€ earned on Robocash! New this month was the interview I conducted with Dmitry Balakhnin, director of strategic communication.

In it, he unveiled some new features, which you can see here.

This month Robocash has already entered the TOP 10 platforms by funding with a total of €12 million.

We are already 18,000 active investors on the platform and almost 700 new ones joined in July. I am not surprised!

In September I will increase my portfolio by €1,000, bringing me closer to Silver status, which brings an additional 0.5% with €10K invested.

In this banner they add 1% of your investment if it exceeds 500€ during the first month:

Lendermarket (+info)

This month it has returned €4 with only €415 invested and maintains its return above 14%.

August brings some news: Credistar Group, parent company of Lendermarket, has applied for the specialised banking licence.

In addition, it has placed more than €23 million in bonds, coinciding with its 15th birthday.

And in the second quarter, net profit exceeded €2 million.

It is a company to keep an eye on and is ranked 12th in terms of turnover with €11 million.

If you want to benefit from their 1% welcome promotion, click on this banner:

Bondster (+info)

Bondster returned €5 in August, I am satisfied and am looking forward to increasing my portfolio to €1,000 before the end of the year.

NordCard has increased its profitability by 1% and Lime South Africa has finished paying last year’s outstanding amount.

As far as we have been able to ascertain, the average number of projects in arrears is less than 0.1% in Bondster:

They have reached 13,000 investors and more than €3.1 million in interest.

Get an additional 1% from €100 of investment for the first 90 days:

Nibble (+info)

I continue to be delighted with this easy-to-use platform which brought me a record €13 in August and about which I wrote a detailed article last month.

In total it has generated €22.82 since mid-April and is the platform with the highest return of 14.5% per annum.

This month I have been invited to take part in an internal survey that promises great things to come.

Nibble is currently in the process of obtaining the AML (Anti-Money Laundering) certificate.

They have also applied for a supervisory licence from the FSA (Financial Supervision Authority) of Estonia.

Remember that their classic strategy offers 9.7% with Buyback, with NO risk and a minimum investment of €10:

Esketit (+info)

It has contributed €3.80 in August and is already bringing me my first joys.

Its Buyback works without delays, it is easy to use and its autoinvest works autonomously so you don’t have to worry about it.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a detailed article about this platform, which you can read here.

It is a new platform, but created by the founders of Creamfinance, with 8 successful years in the market.

Here you get an additional 1% bonus on every investment over €100 you make during the first 30 days:

Platforms with some shadows, not recommended for investment

Crowdestor (+info)

Although this month Crowdestor has only given me 21€, I am satisfied because they have returned the Forestland Investments project in full.

As of today I have a backlog of 11 projects out of 12, of which I have 5 for sale on the secondary market.

It is a pity that the E. Fon Trompowsky Quarter project, which was up to date until August, has not been paid this month:

The payment schedule now has this new design, but the tricky thing is that non-payments are still accumulating.

The M119 project should be completed in September, but I am afraid they will not pay on time because they are already 4 months behind schedule.

They have also embraced Auto Invest, which is now available on the secondary market. I do not recommend using it on Crowdestor.

Here you can see the status of the projects in July and below as of today to draw your own conclusions:

JULY: 438 projects funded; 127 repaid; 113 current; 165 in arrears; 33 in demand
AUGUST: 449 projects funded; 141 repaid; 109 current; 157 in arrears; 42 in demand

Until they reduce their high default risk, I do not recommend investing in this platform.

Iuvo (+info)

This month it has only returned €2 and I still have serious doubts about this platform.

Investments in roubles have not been a great incentive either and, although returns have increased, I see little difference.

In short, I will wait another month to see how it evolves. It is still a platform that I have been testing since December.

The good news is that Easy Credit and Viva Credit are lowering their Buyback from 60 to 30 days, but at a yield between 5-6%, far from my expectations.

In any case, I do not recommend investing in it today.

Don’t even think of investing in these platforms

Housers (+info)

This month Housers has fulfilled some commitments: Albufera III, Juan de la Encina and Pensamiento.

BUT, it has again defaulted on six other projects, one of which has not delivered a single cent since it was funded in March 2018.

One is particularly serious because the developer Construbecker was given a second chance to fulfil its non-payments, so we will have to wait until the complaints made against it are successful.

vara del rey

Several investors affected by the Vara del Rey project have joined forces to recover the administration of the company, but neither Housers nor the administrator seem willing to call an extraordinary meeting.

And the most curious thing is that on their website this project appears “without incident”, although it should have been returned in April 2020.

And since we are delighted with its management, we want to manage it ourselves as investors, despite the additional costs involved.

Many of the 123 “uneventful” projects should have been returned years ago, but they are not considered “overdue”:

Some “uneventful” examples that I personally suffer from:

  • El Raval II (expired in February 2020)
  • Sagasta (expired in January 2019!!!)
  • Pensamiento (expired in January 2020)
  • Juan de la Encina (expired in June 2019)

And to complete the current situation, I leave you with this latest example of their inability to pay back their funded projects:

114 projects closed out of 327 highlight Housers’ management

Bulkestate (+info)

They have not launched any projects in August and seem to have taken the opportunity to rest, as there has been no news from them either.

My project will be returned a year late and, since they have no secondary market, I can only wait.

At least they have published some photos of the evolution of the project, although I see it very late and I don’t know if they will finish it in March 2022.

Mintos (+info)

I have been refunded €32 this month and there is now €773 still to be recovered, mostly from Finko AM.

The good news is that Mintos has been licensed as a regulated European investment firm by the Latvian FCMC (Financial and Capital Market Commission).

In addition, it has new Russian originators Pay P.S. and Capem; Conmigo Vales, GoCredit and Alivio Capital, all from Mexico, as well as Jet Finance and LF Tech, both from Kazakhstan and Watu Credit, now also in Uganda.

Mintos remains the leading P2P platform in Europe, with €150 million funded last month.

I continue to withdraw my portfolio, as the investment in one of the TOP originators at the time left more than €1,000 in the process of recovery, of which I will recover a maximum of 70%, as announced.

Lenndy (+info)

This month they have not made any repayment of the 783€ of outstanding capital and it has taken them three weeks to transfer 4€ from last month.

I must be patient, as the outstanding amount will not be refunded before March 2024.

In May I put my two assets up for sale at a 21% discount, but no one has yet been interested. I am not surprised either.

Crowdestate (+info)

This month there has been no news from Baltic Forest’s insolvency administrator and €350 of accumulated interest remains to be paid.

Something has to change at Crowdestate since the EFSA (Estonian Financial Authority) granted them the certificate of regulated payment institution in June.

In August they have been very active, launching 11 projects and successfully returning 3.

But let’s not forget that they have more than 10 million outstanding on 21 overdue projects and more than 3 million on 5 unpaid projects.

Esketit, new platform with high profitability and security

It is not yet in its first year and I am already clapping my hands because I have invested in Esketit, a new platform with high profitability and double security.

It has made a strong entry into the market, having funded over €5.3 million and over 500 active investors.

I started investing in them on 14 May after studying them for several months and I am still delighted with my decision.

It is a P2P investment platform that offers loans from individuals in exchange for a return of 12-15% per annum.

Here is a screenshot of my control panel as of 19 August:

You can see that in three months I have earned €9.35 in interest, hardly suffer any delays and maintain an annual return of 14.33%.

In July they have contributed €3.63 and as of 19 August I have accumulated €3.02, so I will end the month above €4 with only €300 invested initially.

You can see the details and my Esketit statistics here, but here is a summary:

ESKETIT General Features

Country of originRegistered in Ireland, operates from Latvia
Year founded2020
GuaranteesDouble: the founders invest in each originator and the originators invest in each project. In addition, most of the projects have Buyback
AutoinvestYES
Secondary marketYES
min-max investmentFrom 10€. No upper limit
Return estimated12-15% p.a.
Investment periods1 day-12 months
Support rating10 / 10
Official supervisionEach originator is licensed in its country of origin

Who is behind Esketit?

Matiss Ansviesulis and Davis Barons founded Creamfinance in 2012 and last year launched the Esketit platform.

Esketit works with 5 loan originators, all owned by Matiss and Davis or Creamfinance in Spain, Jordan, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, Sri Lanka and Mexico.

Legal aspects and safety

Esketit is registered in Ireland, while operations are carried out from its headquarters in Riga, Latvia. This is common practice.

In relation to the security they offer, it is striking that being so new, it is one of the most reliable platforms.

  • Firstly, all short-term projects have Buyback, which means that the originator is obliged to repay the initial capital plus unpaid interest 60 days after completion.

I have had the opportunity to try it out and I can assure you that after 60 days I have been fully reimbursed for the project, plus the interest accrued during the delay.

Business projects do not offer Buyback, so it is preferable to invest in short-term projects, as they offer the same return.

  • Secondly, the owners hold a stake in all loan originators, so that Esketit invests a share in each project.

In the finance industry this practice is referred to as “skin in the game”.

And as a final safety measure, they have a secondary market, so that any project can be sold in advance of completion.

Moreover, in the event that nobody is interested in it and the sale is urgent, Esketit acquires it with a 1% discount.

Using the platform

It is an ideal platform for inexperienced investors because it is very intuitive and easy to use.

In addition, we can make use of autoinvest, which works autonomously so that we can forget about it.

Let me give you a real example on this platform: after finishing a project, I receive €20 of the initial capital and 14 cents of interest. On the same day they reinvest the €20.14 in a new project following the guidelines set out in the autoinvest.

Esketit Customer Service

In case of any questions or problems with the Esketit account, we can communicate in English with the customer service team support@esketit.com, but if I can help you, I am always ready to: info@libertad-financiera.eu

Esketit’s business hours are Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00, GMT +2.

I hope you will take the opportunity to invest in Esketit with a welcome gift of €10 if you invest a minimum of €100 during the first 30 days after registration:

Interview with D. Balakhnin, Strategic Communications Director of Robo.cash

I have long wanted to know details about Robo.cash that I didn’t see in its portfolio, and I finally managed to interview Dmitry Balakhnin, Director of Strategic Communications.

Who better than him to give me those details that few others know? I have been investing with them for three years now and wanted to know what Robo.cash is like from the inside.

I would like to thank Dmitry Balakhnin and Anastasia Palamarchuk for providing me with this interview.

And now for a brief summary of my experience with Robo.cash:

Since September 2018 I have invested in 2161 loans, of which 1932 have closed as planned, 229 are currently active and ZERO (0) loans have been delayed.

In March 2021 I reached €5,000 invested, which gives me bronze status (+0.3% additional) and I aim to reach silver status (€10,000 and +0.5% additional) before the end of 2021.

As of today, I have almost €6,400 invested and we are already more than 18,000 investors who place our absolute trust in Robo.cash and its bright future.

If you need more details, statistics and news, be sure to visit the Robo.cash private page 😉

The most professional interview

1.- Welcome to Financial-Freedom, Dmitry. Nice to meet you and to have a word with you about Robo.cash, where you have been working since 2014. Here we go: given the rapid evolution of Robocash, the increase in investors and the amounts invested, how do you plan to avoid a possible lack of available projects?

Robocash group companies, which place loans on the platform, are developing at a rapid pace. I’d like to note that Robocash.kz (placing loans via RC Riga Kazakhstan) is growing particularly fast. This means there will be a demand for investment, including funding through Robo.cash.

Besides, the group has an expansion strategy and needs substantial investment for its development. Giving that, the platform is ready to offer investors commercial loans at a favorable price, focusing its efforts on the group’s scaling.

2.- Can investors expect a further readjustment of interest rates in relation to the project period?

We have no current plans to change our interest rate, but we are constantly monitoring not only the market and the situation, but also the P2P lending market as a whole comparing the terms with other investment alternatives as well. We strive to provide the best value for money for our investors, so our interest rates will be in line with the risk ratio and profitability we offer.

3.- Robocash is ranked 12th by volume of funding in the EU. What actions do you plan to take to reach the TOP 10? When do you think you will reach this milestone?

I think we will reach TOP 10 this year because our main priority is the security of investors’ funds while maximizing profits and further reducing risk.

Moreover, we are now ready to satisfy higher appetite of investors because the group is developing rapidly in the most promising and fast-growing markets in Asia.

Our actions? I can admit that at present we are taking a balanced approach in providing new features, as investors value reliability highly.

What we definitely intend to do is to maintain the trustworthiness we built showing our clients that we are the company they can trust. We will be as transparent as possible and respond to the needs of our customers by improving our service.

4.- What news does Robocash have in store for this year of transition and the next year of take-off?

Robo.cash is glad to see the P2P lending market is gaining momentum. The investment platform has long-term goals, so we plan to build strong relationships with investors, doing our best to provide them with high-quality service.

Another important point is that the platform will strive to make the P2P investment market one of the most attractive investment assets. P2P lending is a more persistent investment tool compared to the stock market.

At the same time, it is proving to be a profitable asset on the investment market with an average interest rate of about 10-11%, which is a decent rate for Europe.

The most personal interview

5.- Perfect. Let’s move on to a more informal interview, Dmitry. What do employees value most about working at Robocash?

First and foremost, employees are valued by the owner and top managers of the company. An each team member has the opportunity to unlock their potential and apply their knowledge and skills. Management provides all resources for training and development of our employees, which creates an environment where everyone sincerely wants to improve the functionality and performance of the platform. Each employee is supported by the strong team and has the freedom to propose and implement meaningful approaches.

6.- What phrase or quote reflects your philosophy of life?

“Do not put all your eggs in one basket”. This rule applies to investment as well as to life. My credo is to be versatile. One should not rely on just one thing in life. Career, family, hobbies and leisure time enable us to live our lives meaningfully, harmoniously,and thus, full of joy.

7.- Tell me a lesson that life has taught you.

Whatever experience happens in your life, it is definitely useful. I guess you remember the world financial crisis of 2008. It forced the company where I had been working for 4 years as PR manager to lay off employees. I lost my job where I had planned to make a career. I had to find a new one in an unfamiliar field to me: marketing. I was upset because I had to give up PR and master marketing.

However, later I realized what priceless experience I had gained and since then I have been mixing different approaches in my work and trying to use versatile working methods.

8.- And a lesson that working at Robocash has taught you?

I got a very good lesson while working for Robocash Group. It is: “ Don’t be afraid of challenges and do whatever you think is worthwhile regardless of the difficulties, because everything is in your hands”. I’ve been working for the company almost since the beginning when it was a Russian startup. I can’t count how many challenges were overcome during this extensive journey. We were unknown in Russia and nobody welcomed our initiatives, but we were brave enough to research and pitch our ideas in the media and at conferences.

I remember when we entered the Kazakhstan market, we did not know what challenges awaited us, but we found common ground with the local media market and public officials. As a result, we were published in the local Forbes and other respected media.

Then Spain, Europe (the investment platform) and the new course of development in a very promising Asian market with rapid pace of internet penetration and lack of access to traditional banking service.

I had never talked and negotiated with foreign partners before and I did not understand what I had to do to attract their attention. A genuine aspiration to do something useful and meaningful for customers has worked and made it possible to be where we are now.

9.- Which people, one historical and one current, would you like to have a conversation with?

Actually, I don’t think I have any particular historical or a famous person I am keen to have a chat with. I find it inspiring to talk to all smart people who are professionals in a particular field or who have achieved decent results in business or other aspects of life. I can find out a lot of new and priceless information by talking to ordinary people on a daily basis. This can be very insightful, and perhaps even more valuable than talking to a historical person.

10.- Have you invested in cryptos? Do you see a future for them? Do you have any recommendations of cryptocurrencies to avoid and others with a foreseeable future? Has Robocash considered launching its own altcoin?

I haven’t invested in cryptos. I’m not a huge expert at this type of asset, but I think the huge waves and significant fluctuations in the market are a temporary situation. It’s good for the investors who want to hit the jackpot there (and know how), but it can be risky for those who want to make long-term and relatively consistent investments.

I think that the cryptocurrency market will find its price, which will be balanced and reasonable compared to other investment tools.

Robo.cash is not considering launching its own altcoin.

11.- And the last question: If you had €100,000 to invest, in which financial products would you invest it and in what percentage each of them? (not valid in Robocash) 😉

Actually, I already have such investment plans. I am considering putting about 30% of the funds in the P2P lending market, 50% in the stocks and 20% in the Russian bond market, one of the Group’s entities Zaymer issues its bonds on the MOEX. As for the stock market, I am waiting for the time when the holding company Robocash Group holds the IPO and issues its shares.

I will definitely buy shares of Robocash Group because I know the company from the inside, its financial strength and effective management. I believe fintech will be the most profitable investment in the stock market.

12.- I would like to add one more question, given that a major financial collapse seems to be looming and prominent investors (Michael Burry, Jeremy Grantham,…) warn that the biggest bubble in history is brewing. What is Robo.cash’s opinion on this and what consequences could it have for the sector and the company?

It is likely that an emerging crisis will affect those investment fields where prices are set too high or too low, or where we see overheated demand, such as in the stock market. I agree that the potential collapse would probably impact many other niches, including the P2P lending market.

However I don’t think there will be any sudden crisis. If the macroeconomic situation gets worse, the quality of borrowers may decrease or new development strategies may be considered. But the collapse will only strengthen the reliability of such investment tools over time.

Once again, thank you very much for spending your time with us, Dmitry!

Updating my portfolio: November 2020

Month of joy and hope

That’s right, month of joy and hope. So it was November: a good month with 967 euros obtained from interest,but with two sides. The joy represented by Crowdestor and the hope that Housers would fulfill his commitments.

In short, both Housers   and   Crowdestor some outstanding   payments have been left along the way, although the former I have little confidence.

The commitment made according to the payment schedule proposed by Housers lasted one month, so we are returning to the usual pattern of delays in payments. 

Mintos continues to disappoint in its figures, as its profitability has been a few cents, since I have only invested 10%of my funds, since the remaining 90% is in the process of recovery. 

Peerberry   hascontributed the same 4th last month and   it still works well. They transfer confidence in their parent company Aventus Group in Poland, despite pandemic regulations.

Viainvest has contributed this month with 9€ who know me to glory. Its parent company VIA SMS Group has submitted its excellent consolidated reports for 2019, with a net profit of almost 400,000 euros.

Robo.cash   surprised me this month with 31€ profit and continues to offer its usual stability. Now that you have completed a project in Crowdestor and taking advantage of the additional 1% that you offer until December 10, I will reinvest the entire amount in them.   More information here.

Crowdestor’s had a irregular month. On the one hand, I have been returned to the entire Minst 19 project with 13.4% interest meeting the date. But, on the other hand, seven projects accumulate with delay,some more than three months: Kabuki at Salaris, Foresland and Fertilizer Export. In the first two, news was expected at the end of November that have not arrived.

In any case, it has contributed 162 euros that are very welcome and have continued to inform investors conveniently about the situation of each project. 

Lenndy has contributed 11 euros in November and I remain confident in his good work to maintain a very diversified portfolio   .

For its part, Bondster has helped me with another 11€ and I removed Rapicredit from my Autoinvest because I was accumulating many projects of this originator and I want to diversify. On the other hand, www.todocrowdlending.com appear in the TOP 3 of more profitable platforms. 

Bulkestate   has slowed the pace this month and has published only three projects, but it still offers enormous security and is corroborated by its stalwart investors.

At Swaper I am   very unhappy with their   severing of projects and I have only one euro invested that I will repay in mid-December along with the rest of the balance, when the last project is over.

Crowdestate has been personed to find out the details of Baltic Forest’s bankruptcy petition. In short, they are looking for a buyer urgently, but they convey a certain peace of mind by ensuring that they have the necessary guarantees. The 2,600 euros invested are already 8 months behind schedule and, according to their own forecasts, there are still 73 months to go. 

Grupeer   has published the legal actions it will take against originators who are not fulfilling their existing contracts, continues to manage the collections of 10 million euros through Recollecta and announce that they are still interested in continuing their company.

Finally, after several emails,   Wisefund has informed me that action is being taken to recover the unpaid amounts from the Dutch Flowers project through the company Cis Debt Recovery Solutions, but they do not know how long this will take and the amount to be recovered. It is possible to sue them, but this has not been confirmed to date. 

In relation to Housers, there is good news and bad news, since they have paid everything corresponding to the payment schedule of the Marismas de Odiel project, while in Torres de Paterna and Albufera III they paid only in October and already have missed their second month. Housers informed me that they will try to enforce the promoter’s payment of two months before Christmas, but their confidence is also minimal. 

They have also reactivated the paymentsof Pensamiento and Juan de la Encina, which since March and December were not paying interest despite being both rented. Below is the status of all the projects. 

The platform of those affected by Housers’ non-payment is very active and a few days ago dozens of documents were presented before the National Court accrediting Housers’ lack of contractual compliance.

Finally, about Kuetzal, Monethera and Envestio there have been some news that you can read at the end of this post. 

Here’s the table with the percentages and returns for each platform this month:

And here’s what’s new in the detail of each platform:

Mintos (extended version)

Although their results in my case are not satisfactory, they continue to have a loyal legion of followers who have full confidence in them, having reached 7.2 million euros in their self-crowdfunding campaign with more than 7,000 investors.

With regard to the outstanding payments, I am enclosing a screenshot of my current situation:

It seems that Finko Armenia, where I have the bulk of my investments in recovery, could pay back all the amounts until December 2022. For the time being, this last month they have returned 120,000 Euros out of the total of 17 million that are still pending, as you can see below:

It seems that Capital Service and Express Credit will be the hardest to charge. What I most reproach Mintos for is that, until the moment when the platforms I invested in failed, they had been rated between A- and B.

Mintos now has the new Mexican originator “Podemos Progresar”, which offers returns of up to 12%.

Continue reading “Updating my portfolio: November 2020”