Filtering the data
Investors who know which loans they want to invest in can easily find which platforms match their preferences, using the following criteria :
- Loans kind
- Investment duration
- Buyback feature
- Auto-invest availability
- Presence of a secondary market or other early exit mechanism
This index doesn’t include reviews for platforms in my blacklist – although I keep them updated – .
Loans kinds
Which loans do you want to invest in ? Individual loans are rather standard, and in most case come with the added safety of a buyback guarantee. They’re often rather short-term, although car loans usually span over several years. Business and real-estate loans often offer higher returns, but they are more speculative.
Loans durations
For how long do you want to invest ? If you want to invest in long-term loans, it’s strongly advised to use a platform that features a secondary market or offers an early exit option, in case you need to access your funds before the loan maturity date.
Buyback guarantee
Loans covered by a buyback guarantee are safer than those without it. Learn more about the buyback guarantee on our article about borrower’s default.
Early exit (secondary market or platform buyback)
A very useful feature when investing in long-term loans is a secondary market, which is a marketplace where investors may resell their loans to other investors. Other platforms offer a buyback option, meaning that they will buy the loan back; however, this usually incurs a rather large fee.
Investing methods
Being able to invest automatically based on your investment preferences has several benefits : it allows to save time, prevents tedious and repetitive loans selection, and increases diversification. However, while this feature is standard for individual loans, not all platforms for business and real-estate loans offer it.
EstateGuru
While the interest rates offered by EstateGuru‘s projects are lower than at Crowdestor or BulkEstate, they provide great investment opportunities for those who want a more conservative portfolio. It’s also an excellent complement to CrowdEstate‘s real-estate loans.
EstateGuru’s long list of successful investments (as well as the way they managed the defaulted projects) help build confidence in this platform. It took me a long time to invest there, as I initially targeted more speculative loans. However, I’m planning to grow this portfolio regularly, in order to have a more balanced loans portfolio.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
BulkEstate
I used to prefer CrowdEstate over BulkEstate, thanks to the superior interface and much larger loans volume. However, after more than two years on both platforms, I can’t help but notice that the performance of my BulkEstate portfolio is much higher.
Moreover, BulkEstate’s track record is basically spotless, while CrowdEstate is struggling with late or defaulted business loans.
Overall, the platform’s projects offer a good risk/reward ratio for investors who want slightly more speculative loans than at EstateGuru.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Crowdestor
Crowdestor’s enhanced projects description and borrower’s credit report are a huge step forward in terms of investors information. Indeed, it’s now possible to reliably evaluate the risks of a given loan.
However, several aspects of the platform still have to improve. First, the lack of project status has to be addressed quickly. Also, the platform should improve its overall transparency (by disclosing global statistics regarding delayed/defaulted loans) and communication. Finally, the solidity of the recovery process remains to be seen.
Overall, if these concerns are addressed, I’m very positive regarding Crowdestor’s future.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Iuvo
As several platforms are under suspicion in early 2020, Iuvo‘s focus on reliable loan originators makes it an excellent choice for investors concerned about the safety of their investments. The platform’s main drawback is of course the reduced returns incurred by having only quality originators.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Lendermarket
Thanks to 14% interest rates, very reliable loan originators and a simple but effective website, Lendermarket’s offer is very appealing.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Mintos
Mintos‘ is currently getting a lot of bad press, and several investors plan to leave the platform after losing money when several loan originators defaulted. At the same time, many other investors report that their Mintos portfolio provides the best performance among their peer-to-peer loans portfolios.
I tend to agree with the latter group, and consider that Mintos success is well deserved. However, this portfolio delivers an excellent and very regular performance. Moreover, the impressive loans volume means that basically any amount can be invested without fearing a cash drag. Finally, thanks to the availability of Mintos strategies, even beginner investors can easily invest through the platform.
Of course, there’s still a lot of room for improvement. This especially holds true when it comes to providing reliable information about the loan originators.
In one word, as long as investors are aware of potential risks, Mintos proves to be an excellent choice.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Moncera
I appreciate the opportunity to build a diversified portfolio by investing directly in loans from a reliable originator without using Mintos. As such, Moncera is a perfect complement to Lendermarket.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Omaraha
I used to really love Omaraha and have invested up to 60% of my P2P assets there. For a long time, it was totally worth investing some time (and of course money) there, in spite of the terrible interface. But now that the interest rates and loans volume have decreased, it’s harder to recommend it as much as I used to; I’ve also reduced my portfolio’s size.
In spite of this, for investors who want to focus solely on individual loans, Omaraha still offers the best returns.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
PeerBerry
Thanks to the large selection of reliable loan originators A loan originator is the firm that originally provides the loan to the borrower.
They usually lend a small percent of the amount using their own funds, while the
remaining is put on sale on loans marketplaces. The part of the loan kept by the
originator is called called skin in the game; it’s typically 5%-10% of the
loan amount, and is supposed to encourage originators to provide quality loans., overall ease of use and good returns, I’ve decided to increase PeerBerry’s overall rating.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
CrowdEstate
Although I still appreciate the large supply of loans available at CrowdEstate, I have to admit that my portfolio’s performance is deceiving. The actual returns for speculative loans are far from the expected ones !
Overall, I’m much more impressed by EstateGuru, both in terms of transparency and performance.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Debitum Network
Debitum Network‘s solid risk management will strongly appeal to conservative investors. I tend to prefer slightly more risky investments with low double-digit interest rates.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
FinBee
In spite of the high interest rates, the performance of my FinBee portfolio is rather low, as the loans aren’t covered by a buyback guarantee. Guaranteed loans from Mintos and Fast Invest are probably better choices for investors seeking for predictible and regular returns.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Flender
Flender is a great way to finance businesses in Ireland. The returns are competitive and in spite of minor usability troubles, the website is easy to use. I hope that in 2020, the number of loans goes back to normal so that investors can get a more diversified portfolio or invest large sums.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Robocash
After the September, 1st interest rates decrease, Robocash now offer rates lower than Swaper and Lendermarket, and at roughly the same level as Moncera. Unfortunately, in terms of website ergonomics, the platform really lags behind these competitors.
In spite of this, the financial solidity of the platform’s parent group incite me to choose Robocash over Swaper, as a complement to Lendermarket and Moncera.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Bondster
While Bondster‘s interest rates are great, the actual performance doesn’t meet my expectations; I’ve been investing on the platform for 8 months and my performance barely reaches 10%.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Swaper
It has always been hard for me to choose between Robocash and Swaper. For a long time, Swaper’s much better ergonomics has incited me to prefer this platform, in spite of the cash drags which used to occur regularly.
However, what finally tipped the scale in favor of Robocash is this platform’s transparency and financial solidity. Indeed, Swaper and its parent company Wandoo Finance Group are mostly blackboxes. In contrast, Robocash Group provides audited financial statements which show that the group has been consistently profitable for several years.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
ViaInvest
Compared to their main competitors such as Swaper, Robocash or Lendermarket, interest rates at ViaInvest are not really competitive. And unfortunately, withholding tax may decrease returns even further. Moreover, the website’s design and ergonomics could be greatly improved.
However, the platform is part of a large group which is regarded as financially solid. For conservative investors, this aspect may be more important than higher returns.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Viventor
I was initially thrilled by Viventor’s high interest rates as well as by the website’s great ergonomics. Unfortunately, after more than one year, my performance is really disappointing; moreover, in terms of communication, there’s a lot of room for improvement. Overall, PeerBerry seems like a much better complement to Mintos than Viventor.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
Bondora
Too much marketing, not enough returns : Bondora totally fails to deliver the expected results. It’s hard to be confident in long-term results when a portfolio’s returns decrease month after month ! If only Bondora spent as much time improving the returns as they spend working on their marketing, all their investors would be rich. But for now, all we have is promises of great expected returns. I’d advise investors not to listen to their marketing tricks, and to invest through a company that actually focuses on investors.
Loans characteristics
Platform features
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